Mater Private Malahide 73
Scott’s Lakers 77
Report: Enda Walshe
There were only 14 seconds left on the clock when Malahide’s Sean Daly was fouled in the act of shooting and sent to the free-throw line for two shots. His team trailed by one and he knew he held the chance of victory in his hands.
He duly sank both to send the home support into raptures and his team into a one-point lead. They led thanks to a late charge spearheaded by Matthew Harper that reeled in the Lakers but coach Manuel Suarez had one last hand to deal as he called a timeout.
The Lakers emerged from that with possession just inside the Malahide half. Darnell Snyers inbounded it and it made its way to Eoin Carroll inside the paint. Surrounded, he somehow smuggled it out to Mark Sheehan, who had seen a few efforts rim out during the night but, bravely, he pulled the trigger from outside the arc.
And down it went to give the Lakers a precious two-point lead with four second left.
Malahide called their own timeout and plotted an equaliser. With four seconds it had to be smart but Darnell Snyers stole in and ran half the court to lay up as the final buzzer sounded. The scoreboard read 77-73 in his side’s favour, a richly deserved win but one they nearly came home without.
It wouldn’t be filed as a travesty of justice had Malahide emerged with the victory but some of the Lakers’ slick offence was a joy to watch and they would have been sickened to come out of it empty-handed.
With the profile of the players in the squad, quick ball movement is imperative and they weaved some neat patterns through the Malahide defence with game MVP Snyers pivotal.
It’s something he’s keen to build on: “We want to move the ball very fast in half court and full court. We have the players for it to play that way too”.
Snyers added: “Defensively there is room for improvement as they got a few easy baskets but when we needed to we held our ground and that helped get the job done. But it’s a work in progress.”
The win moves the Lakers on to nine victories for the season and it gives them nice momentum with six of the last nine games at home.
Snyers started the game on fire with two early baskets, with a Mikah Blackwell three in between. The second basket was courtesy of a beautiful assist from Rui Saravia, who was very bright all evening.
Saravia and Snyers helped keep the Lakers at pace with Malahide who had Sean Daly, Matthew Harper and Sean Fitzpatrick to thank for their points.
Oisin Spring, Abdul Oladipupo, Jamie and Jack O’Sullivan all came on to pitch in with Blackwell getting the score of the quarter, going coast to coast and having the game tied at 23 each.
Blackwell opened the second quarter like a man possessed, hitting a three and then stuffing the ball home. It helped kick start a dominant period for the Lakers with Eoin Carroll effective and when Blackwell hit another dunk, the lead was opened out to 10 – 35-25.
Romonn Nelson who had been quiet for the hosts started to light up and alongside Oisin Rice and Daly they got Malahide back within touching distance at half-time, 39-33.
The third quarter started in a similar vein, this time it was Snyers who had the fire in the belly and ice in the brain. He hit three threes as Saravia was at the end of some lovely ball movement and a Carroll basket gave the Lakers a 54-43 lead midway through.
The next minutes allowed Malahide to get back into it as the Lakers were guilty of some sloppy finishing. Rice, Harper and the Daly brothers whittled it down to one by quarter’s end, 56-55.
Blackwell moved inside at the start of the fourth and got an early rhythm which Jack O’Sullivan and Snyers tapped into. Both hit from outside and the Lakers looked to be turning the cars for home with a nine-point lead, 68-59 and five minutes to go.
But Malahide were a resilient bunch as Nelson dragged them back into it. Harper then hit two from downtown and that set the scene for the late fireworks. Daly might have thought he had clinched it but Sheehan stepped up to make his mark and then Snyers put the tin hat on it for a 77-73 win.
Coach Manuel Suarez saw it as a mixed bag.
‘It was a really tough game. We were able to get good runs in offence but we weren’t very solid on defence, mostly on the last minutes,” he said.
“I’m really happy about the last three from Mark to give us the lead because he was not having the best of luck all night.
“We’re trying to play as a team in both sides. We have very talented players like Mikah or Darnell but we need to share the ball and make them not to take all the responsibility,” Suarez added.
Darnell Snyers top scored with 27 points, Mikah Blackwell had 21 points and 13 rebounds, Jack O’Sullivan netted nine, Rui Saravia had six points and seven assists, Eoin Carroll scored six, Abdul Oladipupo hit five and Mark Sheehan contributed three..
For Malahide Sean Daly had 17, Matthew Harper 16, Romonn Nelson 13 and Oisin Rice 12.
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