Ireland not too far off a historic win in their World Cup opener

Ireland had come from behind to tie and lead the game in the final quarter and really died on their swords in this historic game.

SO CLOSE: Jordan Blount was brilliant for Ireland in Kosovo.

IRELAND 76 KOSOVO 83 

CONSTANTLY booed by a partisan Prishtina crowd and up against a side ranked eight places higher, Ireland, led by a sensational 27 points from vice-captain Jordan Blount, put up a really brave fight on their historic debut in basketball’s World Cup (2027) last night.

The home side, who had previously only scored seven of 33 shots from outside the arc, just produced the big bombs when they most needed them, sinking a treble of three-pointers in the final six minutes to win by seven.

But Ireland had come from behind to tie and lead the game in the final quarter and really died on their swords in this milestone match.

“Unfortunately they made a late run and two of their experienced players hit some tough shots. That was the difference in the end when their crowd played a part too,” Ireland captain Sean Flood said.

Coach Mark Keenan was forced to call a time-out after just three and a half minutes when his side coughed up four early turnovers to trail 12-3.

That talk seemed to steady them and they went on a 5-1 run and trailed just 17-22 at the end of the first quarter, by which time Blount had two threes in his eight points.

The Neptune star finished as the game’s topscorer on 27 points and 13 rebounds and there was little more he could have done.

He took his personal tally to 10 within seconds of the re-start and within two minutes Tralee’s Rapolas Buivydas made his senior international debut with a steal and a basket which helped Ireland ignite for an 11-5 run, with Taiwo Badmus adding one of his trademark dunks and a great step-back three to give Ireland their first lead of the game (28-27) after 15 minutes.

They had got on top defensively at that point and were forcing Kosovo to throw up a lot of bricks.

But the home side then hit a hot streak and were it not for another big Badmus dunk and two great three-pointers from Sean Flood and Matt Treacy Kosovo might have pulled away by more than their 45-38 half-time lead.

In truth Ireland were only outscored by a basket in the second quarter and a point in each of the next two and some careless finishing and turnovers when they had the upper hand proved very costly.

With James Gormley already on three fouls, Buivydas and Lorcan Murphy were among the second-half starters and when Kosovo pulled into an 11-point lead Blount and Sean Flood really kept Ireland in the game.

Badmus cut the lead to five (57-52) and another great lay-up from Blount took it down to three before Badmus coughed up a poor three-point foul and he was also the victim of some questionable refereeing at that point which blunted his subsequent influence though he still ended with 15 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Ireland trailed by 57-65 at the end of the third when Blount had already racked up 21 points and he was in the thick of things again when they went on a great 8-0 run at the start of the fourth, helped by some great defence from Neil Randolph and threes from Matt Treacy and Sean Flood who tied the game at 65-all and added four more points to give Ireland their second lead with six minutes left.

But then Drilon Hajrizi, Kosovo’s 33-year-old veteran, knocked down a big three to lift their raucous fans and they went on a 15-6 run that included two more timely threes from Dardan Berisha and Muhamedali Janjeva to pull nine clear with less than two minutes left, which Ireland just couldn’t reel in.

They actually outrebounded (39-33) the winners, had a better three-point average (scoring 10 of 18 attempts) and noticeably improved on their recent free-throw percentages (60%) but Kosovo put up twice as many threes (10/36) and scored them when they mattered most.

For a team with only three professionals (Badmus, Flood and Treacy), nine home-based players, three debutants and minus all its US collegiate talent, it was a brave effort.

Ireland face a very quick turnaround now but Flood said this performance will give them great confidence ahead of Sunday’s home game in Dublin against a Swiss side they know much better.

Topscorers 

Ireland: J Blount 27, T Badmus 15, S Flood 12, M Treacy 11.

Kosovo: D Hajrizi 20, D Berisha 19, M Tmusic 11, M Janjeva 9.