Scotts Lakers welcome basketball back to Killarney with win over Lions
NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
Scotts Lakers 76 Dublin Lions 75
NATIONAL League Basketball returned to Killarney with a bang on Saturday night when local side Scotts Lakers edged out Dublin Lions by a single point in a thrilling encounter. A capacity crowd of 600 people filled Killarney Sports Centre to welcome the home side’s return to the national stage after a nine year absence.
Scotts Lakers went into this match without American power forward Antuan Bootle, who picked up an ankle injury in a pre-season tournament last week. However they had several aces who stepped it up with Irish-American Justin Tuason and 6’ 7” powerhouse Padraig Lucey leading the way. Former Irish schoolboys basketball international Padraig Lucey has spent the past three years in Australia after completing an Australian Rules football rookie contract with AFL side Geelong Cats. He returned home to Killarney last week and only picked up a basketball for the first time in five years in the past few days. It was closely contested in the early stages of the first quarter before Dublin Lions went on a run hitting 15 points without reply with Hillary Netsiyanwa and Igor Markiewicz leading the way and the visitors were 23-15 in front at the end of the first quarter.
Scotts Lakers bounced back in the second quarter with Andrew Fitzgerald, Justin Tuason and Padraig Lucey hitting the big scores and the home side took control to lead 33-27 at half-time. The Lakers stayed in control with some outstanding play from Tuason followed by big three-pointers from Mihail Kapitanov and Philip O’Connor to open up a 52-41 lead with three minutes left in the third quarter. The Lions pulled it back to 52-47 entering the final quarter but Padraig Lucey continued to dominate under the boards and the home side led 60-51 with six minutes remaining.
Dublin Lions American Zack Burnett found his range with a succession of three-pointers and the Lions completely turned it around to lead 68-65 with three minutes remaining. The final few minutes were frantic and filled with incidents but Scotts Lakers held their nerve with Tuason and Fitzgerald hitting big scores while the dominant Lucey weighed in with ten points in the final quarter.
Team captain Philip O’Connor raised the roof with the biggest score of the night when he nailed a massive three-pointer with 30 seconds remaining to open up a 74-70 advantage. Dublin Lions weren’t finished and another three-pointer from Burnett narrowed the gap.
However, the influential Mihail Kapitanov was a steadying influence throughout and he was automatic from the free throw line while big Padraig Lucey rose majestically with a match winning block with five seconds remaining to deny the Lions a certain basket and the home side held on for a dramatic one point win.
Overall it was a very rewarding night for Scotts Lakers coach Vojkan Bencic and his squad considering that they were forced to line out without star player Antuan Bootle.
It was a magnificent occasion with an electric atmosphere and the St. Paul’s national league committee left no stone unturned getting the Sports Centre and basketball match set-up looking fantastic. Killarney basketball followers came out in huge numbers and didn’t go home disappointed. Coach Bencic ran his full bench with great effect with everyone playing their part.
Scotts Lakers are away to Limerick Celtics in Thomond Community College, Limerick, this coming Saturday September 23 at 6pm and the next home game in Killarney Sports Centre is on Saturday September 30 against Neptune.
SCOTTS LAKERS: Justin Tuason 21, Padraig Lucey 14, Andrew Fitzgerald 11, Mihail Kapitanov 9, Philip O’Connor 8, Billy Wiseman 6, Cian Clernon 3, Mark Greene 2, Paul Clarke 2
DUBLIN LIONS: Zack Burnett 26, Igor Markiewicz 16, Hillary Netsiyanwa 10, Michael Goj 6.