Fightback doesn't materialise as Ireland U16 men slip to defeat against Norway

Ireland suffered further disappointment at the FIBA U16 Men’s European Championship as a second-half fightback that looked on the cards, failed to materialise as the buzzer sounded.

There were excellent performances from Cillian O’Connell, who had 14-points, 4-rebounds and 3-assists, Jakub Malecki 11-points, 5-rebounds and 2-steals and captain Harry Scully who had a very solid 9-points, 5-rebounds and 5-assists. Ultimately it wasn’t enough. Ireland couldn’t find the spread of scorers they managed in their final group game against Finland and another slow first-half left them with too much to do in the closing stages.

Ireland’s first period was characterised by poor execution and shooting. The team matched their opposition for effort, hustle and on the stat sheet, but only managed to put 19-points on the board in the opening 20-minutes of play. That just isn’t going to get it done at this level. Pat Price has worked on shoring up his team’s interior defensive play during the competition and that work was evident as the disparity in the paint continues to drop with each passing game. However, time and again during the opening half of this game, Norwegian shooters made their open looks on the perimeter, sending daggers through Irish heart on defence. They also made a considerable amount of their offensive rebounds count, amassing 15 second chance points in the contest.

Despite trailing by 13-points at the break, there was a sense that Ireland’s goose wasn’t cooked at this point and that proved to be the case for a time in the second-half. Ireland regained their shooting prowess in the third to post their highest single score in a quarter in the tournament, 24-points to reduce the gap to 11-points as they left the bench for the fourth and final quarter. Harry Scully made a crucial basket off a Declan Gbinigie assist to keep the gap diminishing, but Pharrell Osagie was unable to bring reduce it further in the immediate aftermath. He missed both his efforts from the line. Looking back, that may have been the moment to cash in as Ireland never got closing than nine points thereafter. A Tomas Kennedy shot from outside the arc kept them in the game with 6:09 left on the clock but soon after, Ireland were reduced to giving their fouls. Norway proved unerring from the free-throw line and extended their lead to win by 16-points at the close of play.

Ireland Top-3 Scorers:

Cillian O’Connell (14), Jakub Malecki (11), Harry Scully (9).

FIBA U16 Men’s European Championship Result:

Ireland 55 – 71 Norway