Bad start leaves Lakers with too much to do
MEN’S NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION ONE
IT Carlow 93
Scotts Lakers St Paul’s 85
A POOR second quarter performance contributed largely to Scotts Lakers losing out to IT Carlow on Saturday afternoon. Falling 20 points behind, the Killarney side did bounce back well in the second half to narrow the gap to three points but the home side held on to secure the victory.
After being on the road at 7.00 a.m for a 12.30 tip-off in Carlow, Scotts Lakers started well leading 10-6 midway through the first quarter. Papito Hersisia kept the visitors in front with a big three-pointer and Lakers led 25-21 with 1:36 left in the first quarter. However Carlow finished stronger with American Johnny McCarthy sinking a late three-pointer and the home side led 26-25 at the end of the first period.
It was in the second quarter where Carlow completely overpowered the Killarney side outscoring them 30-11. Dylan Phelan pushed the home side 35-26 in front after two minutes. Baskets from Dailian Mason and Shane McCarthy left Scotts Lakers trailing 43-31 midway through the second quarter. However with Carlow’s Johnny McCarthy dominating and scoring with ease, the home side led 53-33 with two minutes left and were 56-36 in front at half-time.
Carlow led 58-41 early in the third quarter but Scotts Lakers kept battling away with Hersisia, Mason and McCarthy chipping in with baskets and they managed to reduce the deficit to 71-55 with 2:37 remaining in the third quarter. The home side maintained their advantage to lead 71-64 as the game entered the final quarter.
The gap was narrowed to three points, 77-74, with seven minutes remaining. Carlow’s Johnny McCarthy kept his side in front leading 82-74 midway through the quarter. A big score from Hersisia brought the Lakers back to trail 88-85 with 2:18 remaining.
However this was followed by a very controversial incident with a melee breaking out on the court. The match officials took action by ejecting four Carlow players from the court for their roles in the incident while just one Scotts Lakers player, Papito Hersisia, was disqualified.
When play was eventually restored, Carlow kept their composure with Johnny McCarthy pushing them 90-85 ahead with 1:23 remaining and they held on to win by eight points in the end.
It was a match that Scotts Lakers could and should have won. The second quarter collapse was the crucial factor but 16 turnovers and nine missed free throws was also costly. Scotts Lakers managed to score 16 from 39 two-pointer field goals while they converted 13 from 37 three-pointer attempts. IT CARLOW: Johnny McCarthy 26, Brian Hogan 14, Armands Vaikuls 14, Dylan Phelan 12.
SCOTTS LAKERS: Dailian Mason 22, Papito Hersisia 21, Sean O’Brien 11, Shane McCarthy 10, Mark Greene 9, Andrew Fitzgerald 8, Seamus Brosnan 2, Justin Tuason 2.