Basketball Ireland have confirmed that the Portlaoise Panthers and the Limerick Sport Eagles will play the remaining 0.3 seconds of their Division 1 quarter-final this week.
Portlaoise lost out to 80-78 in St Mary’s Hall on Saturday, 23 March, with two converted free-throws by former Ireland captain Jason Killeen proving the difference between the sides in a tight encounter.
The Panthers however argued that the foul that led to those free-throws should not have stood, claiming that the final buzzer had sounded beforehand and pointing to the fact that they were not permitted the opportunity to line-up again as the clock showed 0.0.
The Eagles’ preparations for a home semi-final were disrupted when they were told the game had been cancelled in light of National Appeals Committee’s (NAC) decision to replay the game in its entirety.
While the free throws were correctly awarded, the NAC ruled that the referees and match commissioner erred in not placing a fraction of a second back on the clock and allowing a restart of the game.
The saga took another twist when National League Committee (NLC) overruled that decision to replay the game in full and that, instead, the game would resume with only 0.3 seconds on the game clock in the fourth quarter.
That will be played at some stage this week.
“On Wednesday 27th March the National Appeals Committee ruled that the game should be replayed in its entirety. Basketball Ireland and the National League Committee acknowledge this decision by the NAC,” a statement from Basketball Ireland read.
“However – as stated previously – this option to appeal to the NAC was granted in error by the National League Committee because on-court refereeing decisions cannot be overturned.
“The NLC has ruled that the fixture will not be replayed in full, however the remaining 0.3 seconds of the quarter-final, is to be played this week and Basketball Ireland will be in liaison with the clubs to determine when.”