Ireland beat Latvia in European championship

Ireland 60 Latvia 45

Ireland got off to a perfect start in their opening European championship clash against Latvia at the National Basketball Arena on Monday.

Despite trailing by a point after the first quarter, Alain Tremblay’s side bounced back in the second quarter to lead the tie by 35-22.

The comeback was largely down to the excellent shooting of Barry Cooke and the tenacious Paul Gallagher.

Latvia threatened their own comeback in the third quarter with the first three pointer of the game through Aivars Konopackis.

However, it was to be Ireland’s day and they rounded off a fine display with a 15-point winning margin. (60-45) Gallagher and Cooke finished as Ireland’s top scorer with 22 points.

Ireland face Lithuania in their second group game on Tuesday (Tip:off 20:00) before facing Greece on Wednesday. (Tip:off 17:45).