Scotts Lakers take brilliant victory on the road to the Dublin Lions
IT was a perfect start in the President’s National Cup for Scotts Lakers when they toppled a fancied Dublin Lions side at Coláiste Bríde, Clondalkin last Saturday night.
Overcoming this obstacle away from home was a huge boost to the Killarney side and they have also been rewarded with a home quarter final draw against Limerick Celtics scheduled for early December.
Team captain Mark Greene led the way for Scotts Lakers in the opening minutes hitting the opening nine points for his side. Seán O’Brien, Dailian Mason and Seamus Brosnan were also impressive as the Killarney side stamped their authority from an early stage and led 30-21 at the end of the first quarter.
They maintained that advantage throughout the second quarter and with O’Brien contributing 17 first half points along with 11 from Greene and the Lakers enjoyed a 48-37 advantage at half-time.
Surprisingly Papito Hersisia had a quiet opening half scoring three points, but he made his presence felt early in the third quarter with a big baseline jumper shot followed by two three-pointers.
Dublin Lions battled hard with Garrett Collins and Muhammad Sabic leading the way, but Scotts Lakers led 69-60 entering the final quarter. The Killarney side continued to dominate with big Pádraig Lucey making a huge impression as the game progressed.
Great defence and rebounding from Seán O’Brien, Andrew Fitzgerald, Shane McCarthy and Pádraig Lucey meant that Dublin Lions struggled to make any serious threat. With Papito Hersisia scoring with ease, the Lakers had opened up a up a 90-69 lead with 2:12 remaining.
There was no way back for the home side after this and with Hersisia contributing 22 second half points, Scotts Lakers enjoyed a comfortable fourteen point win in the end. Accurate three-point shooting was another significant factor in the victory with the Lakers hitting 14 in total. Seán O’Brien sank five threes while Papito Hersisia added three more.
SCOTTS LAKERS: Sean O’Brien 27, Papito Hersisia 25, Mark Greene 11, Dailian Mason 9, Seamus Brosnan 7, Padraig Lucey 6, Shane McCarthy 6, Justin Tuason 1, Andrew Fitzgerald, Cian Clernon
DUBLIN Lions: Garrett Collins 16, Muhammad Sabic 15, Tomasz Swiatowy 10
Home Game
SCOTTS Lakers return to Killarney Sports Centre this Sunday November 4 with a home game against Limerick IT (LIT) at 3pm.
The sides clashed in the opening game of the season in early September with Lakers winning 67-60 in a low scoring encounter. LIT American Matt Scamaffo only managed nine points in this match but he seems to have discovered his scoring touch since and actually scored a whopping 53 points last weekend.
He will take some watching while LIT also have quality players in Krystian Burchardt, Egidijus Baksys, Deividas Venckunas and Andrew Curiel. Scotts Lakers Coach Cormac O’Donoghue and his squad will be on a high and in confident form after last weekend’s great cup win while they have a 6-2 winning record in the league so far.
The Lakers will also be at home in Killarney Sports Centre the following Saturday November 10 against Waterford Vikings at 7.30pm.