Swiss scrape a victory as Irish face Romania in next round

Switzerland 59 Ireland 57

The visitors started slowly and trailed by four points, at the end of the first quarter (11-15).

However Greg Gurr’s side improved on the restart with Chris Bracey pulling the sides level (20-20) for the first time six minutes from the interval. Ireland went ahead thanks to two points by Pat Burke before Switzerland resumed their composure to lead 32-29 at the interval.

Despite the best efforts of Burke and Marty Conlon, the Swiss quickly opened up a 43-31 lead. A three pointer by Donnie McGrath and some excellent shooting by Burke had the Irish three points in arrears (41-47) at the end of the third.

Burke shone in the fourth and with 17 seconds remaining, two free throws from McGrath left two points between the teams, 59-57. A quick shot with 0.7 of a second on the clock from Burke to level the game bounced off the ring much to the relief of the Swiss players and fans. Ireland will now face Romania next weekend at the National Basketball Arena, (3.30pm).

Top scorers: Pat Burke 14, Donnie McGrath 8, Jay Larranaga 8.