Portlaoise fall just short against Division One leaders Drogheda despite fourth quarter fight-back
Dylan Dunne (Portlaoise Panthers) and Cian Crowley (Drogheda Wolves) scramble for possession during their Men's Division 1 game in St Mary's Hall on Saturday Photo: David Maher
Basketball Ireland Men’s Division 1
ND Audit Portlaoise Panthers 71
Drogheda Wolves 73
DESPITE a big fight-back in the fourth quarter, ND Audit Portlaoise Panthers were denied a valuable three points by leaders, Drogheda Wolves when the two sides clashed in Men’s National League Divisions One action in St. Mary’s Hall on Saturday night.
Jack Scully’s side faced a 13-point deficit heading into the final quarter, but battled their way back into a two-point lead only to be pipped in the end by a last-minute bucket from Drogheda’s Vernon Deshaun Jackson.
The defeat keeps them outside of the play-off berths in the South Conference, making a win against Tipp Talons next Friday night all the more imperative for the Laois side.
Amiri Darrell Stewart, again, led the way on offence for Panthers in Saturday night’s contest, the most recent arrival to the club emerging the game’s top scorer on 33 points, with nine rebounds to boot.
Davin McEvoy and Dylan Dunne also reached double figures by the close of proceedings and, between them, won 13 boards as Portlaoise battled tooth and nail in an effort to try and secure the spoils from this encounter.
But Drogheda, who sit top of the North Conference, were not to be denied, Jackson landing the decisive bucket to take his tally to 26 points, while team mate, David Chukwubuikem Ademolu Oputa finished on a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds.
In what was a tight opening five minutes to this contest, Stewart landed scores from both sides of the arc, while Jackson and Franiciszek Chmielecki responded for the visitors.
The hosts did manage to serve up six points without reply, McEvoy accounting for half of that haul when he struck from downtown, but Drogheda responded with an eight-point run themselves, Dimitrios Theocharis and Oputa delivering that supply to help see their side overtake into a 16-13 advantage by the end of the first quarter.
The visitors managed to remain out in front throughout the second period, Jackson picking up seven points that included an ‘and one’ before Chmielecki drained a shot from off the three-point line to extend Drogheda’s lead to ten.
But Portlaoise ended the first half on the front foot, Dunne getting in for a deuce before Xabi Arriaga drained a big treble just ahead of the buzzer to halve their arrears to five (36-31) as the sides headed in at the break.
Portlaoise picked up where they left off when they returned to the court, McEvoy and Justice Iheme each striking in the paint to leave just one between the sides.
Drogheda, however, responded with the next six points compliments of Jackson and Chmielecki, before Dunne arrested that run with a triple.
But, matters grew a lot more ominous for the hosts when the Wolves went on a run of nine unanswered points that included three free throws from Oputa and big outside offerings from Jackson and Chmielecki that helped leave them with a 58-45 cushion heading into the final quarter.
It was a long way back for Portlaoise, but they set about closing the gap with big three-pointers from Dunne and McEvoy in the opening minute of the fourth.
And, while Oputa got Drogheda moving again with two from the free-throw line, Panthers continued to chip away at the deficit, thanks in large measure to Stewart and the 15 points he chalked up in the closing eight minutes.
Included in that haul was a sublime three that he drained to nudge Portlaoise back in front for the first time since the opening quarter.
But that lead survived less than a minute, as Jackson restored parity from the free-throw line before continuing on to strike from the floor with 52 seconds left to effectively clinch this game for the visitors.
ND AUDIT PORTLAOISE PANTHERS: Dylan Dunne, Amiri Darrell Stewart, Jayden Umeh, Trevor Swayne, Davin McEvoy, Xabi Arriaga, Love Omoijade, Justice Iheme.
Top Scorers: Amiri Darrell Stewart (33), Davin McEvoy (11), Dylan Dunne (10).
DROGHEDA WOLVES: Dimitrios Theocharis, Cian Crowley, Chima Obikwelu, Vernon Deshaun Jackson, David Chukwubuikem Ademolu Oputa, Lukas Saltmeris, Franiciszek Chmielecki, Francisco Antonio Cruz Dias.
Top Scorers: Vernon Deshaun Jackson (26), Dimitrios Theocharis (13), Franiciszek Chmielecki (13), David Chukwubuikem Ademolu Oputa (11).
