Basketball: Battling Ireland come up short against North Macedonia
Taiwo Badmus of Ireland at full stretch during the FIBA EuroBasket 2029 Pre-Qualifiers Group A match between Ireland and North Macedonia at the National Basketball Arena in Dublin. Pic: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile
Sam Alajiki’s heroics weren’t enough as Ireland fell to a strong North Macedonia side in Dublin. Alajiki had 26 points and 10 rebounds in a sensational performance but Michael Bree’s men still fell to 0-2 in their EuroBasket 2029 pre-qualifying group.
Ireland started in explosive style. Threes from Sean Flood and Alajki either side of a Blount score pushed the hosts into an 8-0 lead to start. Jacob Wiley was soon creating a lot of problems at the other end for Ireland as North Macedonia looked to rally.
Andrej Jakimovski stepped up big for the visitors as the quarter progressed, scoring 12 of his 26 points on the night in the opening stanza but Ireland remained strong, leading 27-20 after the first.
The game became scrappy early in the second and an Alajiki putback briefly gave Ireland an 11 point lead before North Macedonia started to rally. It wasn’t long before a Wiley three put just a possession between the sides.
Lejson Zeqiiri leveled matters before a Stojan Gjuroski three gave the visitors their first lead of the day. That was enough to give North Macedonia a 42-40 lead at the half.
Alajiki led the charge out of the break. Ireland charged quickly and a nice inside move from the Dundalk man put Ireland 52-48 ahead.
Wiley quickly responded from deep and then did so twice more as North Macedonia continued to pile on the pressure. Michael Bree’s charges had entered this game as enormous underdogs but they found a way to stay in the fight.
A three from Ballincollig’s Adrian O’Sullivan got Ireland back on level terms late in the third before a lovely move from Neal Quinn ensured Ireland held the narrowest of leads, 62-61, entering the final frame.
The game had been plenty physical throughout but that hit another level in the fourth quarter. Space to shoot was at a premium and the bulk of the scoring in the fourth came from the free throw line.
As the foul count went up, it was Ireland that felt the worst of the breaks. Rapolas Buivydas was the first to foul out before Quinn joined him after picking up his fifth.
Wiley somehow found a way to push through to score in enormous traffic to put North Macedonia up by 3 entering the closing minutes. An unsportsmanlike on Matt Zona gave the visitors the free throws they needed to stretch the lead.
From there, it was a matter of margin. With Zona fouling out and Ireland desperate, North Macedonia closed things out. Ireland drop to 0-2 but will have a chance to get things back on track in spring when they host Luxembourg and Azerbaijan.
: Adrian O’Sullivan, Rapolas Buivydas, Sean Jenkins, Sean Flood, Conor Quinn, Jordan Blount, Taiwo Badmus, Matt Treacy, Matt Zona, Eoin Nelson, Neal Quinn, Sam Alajiki.
: Alajiki 26, Flood 17, Quinn 10.
: Viktor Tashovski, Andrej Mitevski, Luka Stojanovski, Valjimir Kakruki, Vodjan Stojanovski, Andrej Magdevski, Adam Mekic, Stojan Gjuroski, Teodor Simikj, Andrej Jakimovski, Jacob Wiley, Lejson Zeqiri.
Jakimovski 26, Wiley 20, Mekic 12.
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