National League Division 1 Semi-Final
DBS Éanna 95
Scotts Lakers 78
(Dublin)

The Scotts Lakers' Super League dreams are on ice for another season at least after they fell to a valiant defeat at the hands of DBS Éanna in Dublin on Saturday.

The visiting Lakers actually led at the half-time break but in the end Éanna's strength in depth showed and they eventually pulled away to win by 17. The margin was not an accurate reflection of the game as a whole and the Killarney lads can hold their heads high despite ultimately coming up short against very strong opposition.

For the second game in succession, Dutch forward Papito Hersisia provided the Lakers' main scoring threat and he finished up with an impressive tally of 36 points. Team captain Mark Greene chipped in with 17 points while American guard Seán O'Brien added 11.

Éanna, who finished first in the Northern Conference with an almost perfect 22-1 record, got big contributions from Josh Wilson (25), Neil Lynch (22) and Stefan Zecevic (21) on the day. 24 hours later, they were crowned Division 1 champions and gained automatic promotion to the Super League when they defeated Ballincollig 73-67 in WIT.

The Lakers' focus will now turn to the end of season League Cup competition which tips off this Saturday. They will have home advantage for their Round 1 game against LYIT Donegal and also for their quarter-final tie should they advance. That last eight fixture versus either IT Carlow or Ulster University will also take place this weekend, on Sunday afternoon with the time to be confirmed later in the week.