International

Aug 02 2024

Ireland men lose 64-57 to Denmark in friendly in Dublin

Ireland men’s head coach Mark Keenan lamented the number of turnovers conceded, as his team lost 64-57 to Denmark in their friendly at the National Basketball Arena.

Ireland made blistering start to the contest, John Carroll - playing his first home international since reversing his decision to retire - opened the scoring with a three. Back-to-back three’s from Taiwo Badmus – who’d finish with a game-high 23 points - and Jordan Blount had Ireland up by 10 points, 18-8, with a litte over three minutes to go in the first quarter, however that lead was cut by the end of it, Ireland 19-15 ahead.

Ireland suffered a blow when they lost Blount to an ankle injury in the second quarter, which curtailed their options. The game was level at 21-21 apiece following Sylvester Berg’s dunk three and a half minutes into the second quarter. An Anton Ostoft three followed, to put the Danes in front, cancelled out swiftly by another Badmus three and it was 24-24. A nine point run from the Danes was finally ended by Sean Flood’s three, to see Ireland trail 33-27. The Danes would lead 35-29 at half-time.

Ireland closed to within a point, 38-37, two and a half minutes into the third, following Neal Quinn’s rebound. Gustav Shur Jessen’s three had the Denmark up 44-39 with four minutes to go. But Ireland reclaimed the lead following Matt Treacy’s corner three and a basket and free throw from Badmus, to put them 45-44 up. A nice fadeaway jump shot from Adrian O’Sullivan had Ireland in front by three, 50-47, with 1’21 left. The teams exchanged free throws, Ireland led 51-49 going into the final quarter.

Denmark started the fourth with a seven-point run, Badmus got Ireland’s first points of quarter from the three point line, to bring his tally to 21 points at that stage and Ireland trailed 56-54 with four and a half minutes remaining in the contest. In a low scoring affair, baskets from Tobias Jensen and Sylvester Berg either side of a Mads Bonde free throw to made it a seven point game, 61-54 with a minute and a half to go. It was an uphill task for Ireland, another Badmus basket followed, but it was Denmark’s night as they won 64-57.

Ireland head coach, Mark Keenan, said: “Disappointed, when I look at the scorelines 64 points we only gave up and we had 25 turnovers in the game just looking at it there, so that 64 doesn’t look too bad, but 25 turnovers if we cut that in half, give ourselves an extra 10-12 possessions, there’s the difference in the game. We did a lot of good stuff for periods of the game and then we just had spells for a couple of minutes where it seemed to be turnover after turnover and they capitalised on it. Look, a lot to be happy with and then a lot to look forward to tomorrow, in terms of can we overturn this and change that result around tomorrow.”

Ireland’s men face Denmark once again at 7pm on Saturday, 3^rd August, at the National Basketball Arena, with tickets available to purchase here.

Quarter Scores:

Q1: 19-15, Q2: 10-20 Q3: 22-14, Q4: 6-15

Game Scores:

Q1: 19-15, Q2: 29-35, Q3: 51-49, Q4: 57-64

Ireland:

Adrian O’Sullivan (2), Sean Jenkins (0), Sean Flood (7), Conor Quinn (0), Jordan Blount (3), James Gormley (DNP), Taiwo Badmus (23), Matt Treacy (3), Sam Alajiki (14), Neal Quinn (2), Aidan Harris-Igiehon (0), John Carroll (3).

Denmark:

David Kristensen (0), Andreas Rosenkrantz Holst (1), Sylvester Berg (12), Adam Heede-Andersen (6), Liam Churchill (8), Mads Bonde (2), Anton Østoft (3), Gustav Suhr Jessen (3), Dane Erikstrup (20), Tobias Jensen (9), Tomas Atli Bjarkason (0), Gustav Winther (0)