Ireland push Croatia before falling to 95-61 defeat at sold out National Basketball Arena

Ireland fell to a 95-61 defeat to Croatia in their FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifier at a sold out National Basketball Arena. Ireland pushed their illustrious opponents to the limit in a vibrant first half, with Lorcan Murphy in particular causing problems, scoring 12 points in the opening 20 minutes.

Aidan Harris Igiehon’s jump shot got Ireland off the mark and a nice three from Taiwo Badmus saw the home side trail 7-5 two and a half minutes in. But Croatia started to establish a foothold and opened up a 10 point lead at 17-7, before CJ Fulton downed a lovely three point jump shot with three minutes to go in the first quarter to reduce the deficit. A rebound from Lorcan Murphy followed not long after, to put Ireland within five points. Roko Badzim’s three established a 20-12 lead for Croatia by the end of the quarter.

Ireland made a great start to the second quarter with Murphy to the fore. He started with two free throws and then got the Irish crowd on their feet with a fast break and dunk to make it 20-16. Dario Dreznjak’s three followed, but the pacy Templeogue-club man Murphy had momentum and his layup saw Ireland 23-18 down 90 seconds into the quarter. 

Next up to the plate for Ireland was vice captain Sean Flood, his three point jump shot followed by a layup after getting through traffic and Ireland were within two points, trailing 25-23, 3’10 into the second quarter. It prompted a Croatian timeout and as expected a reaction came, with nice unanswered points from the world number 25 side. Murphy snapped that run with a layup to see Ireland 34-25 behind, Murphy’s tally at 10 points by that stage.

CJ Fulton was getting his eye in, a long range three, followed by a steal and layup from the point guard and Ireland were 36-30 behind with less than two minutes to go in the second quarter. Danko Brankovic tested the stability of the basket with a thunderous dunk to put Croatia 40-30 up. It would be 42-34 by half-time, a set play with 5.7 seconds remaining saw Murphy power through for a layup.

It was a slow start to the third quarter, a Badmus three from the corner brought Ireland within five points once more, 44-39 behind, four minutes in. The dangerous Dario Dreznjak showed his quality with a trio of three’s to put Croatia in control, 56-39, with a little over two minutes to go in the third quarter. John Carroll’s three offered some respite with 1’16” to go, to trail 57-42. Croatia would lead 63-42 by the end of the quarter, the referees ruling out an attempted buzzer beating layup by Badmus.

Ireland captain Carroll got Ireland’s first points of the fourth quarter with another three, but at the other end Croatia were ruthless from the three point line, Mateo Dreznjak and Borna Kapusta converting, to give them a 71-45 advantage. A Flood layup and three point jump shot, either side of another Mateo Dreznjak three, saw the score at 74-50 with six minutes remaining. Croatia were not to be caught, but Ireland still finished with a flourish, thanks to back-to-back three’s in the final minute from Conor O’Sullivan, on his home debut, and Conor Quinn, as it finished 95-61.

Ireland head coach Mark Keenan said: “Obviously we are disappointed right at the end with the scoreline. We hung with them for a lot of that game, the first half was really competitive. Our aim, one of our things today was to compete and we really competed in that first half, but second half when we made a mistake or turned the ball over we were just punished heavily. We lacked a little bit of discipline, fouling guys on three point shots and that’s something we’ve emphasised, because we’ve done it too much in this window. So initially it’s disappointing, but looking at the big picture and the overall and how good Croatia are and how we competed in that first half, for 25 minutes out of the 40, so really happy with that, just a bit disappointed with the scoreline at the end.”

The defeat means that Ireland cannot advance to the FIBA EuroBasket qualifiers, but second spot in Group G remains in their grasp, ahead of their final game against Luxembourg on August 5^th at the National Basketball Arena. 

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Quarter scores:

Q1: 20-12, Q2: 42-34, Q3: 63-42, Q4: 95-61

Ireland

CJ Fulton (8), Lorcan Murphy (12), John Carroll (6), Sean Flood (10), Conor Quinn (3), Sam Alajiki (0), Taiwo Badmus (10), Matt Treacy (0), Jordan Blount (4), Aidan Harris Igiehon (0), Neal Quinn (3), Conor O’Sullivan (3)

Croatia

Toni Perkovic (15), Goran Filipovic (0), Borna Kapusta (11), Roko Prkacin (6), Mate Kalajzic (4), Lovro Gnjidic (6), Lovro Mazalin (4), Roko Badzim (9), Danko Brankovic (10), Mateo Dreznjak (4), Dario Dreznjak (17), Kresimir Ljubicic (9)

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 Ireland FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers Round 3

Group G results:

July 19th

Croatia 89-49 Ireland 

July 26th

Luxembourg 76-96 Ireland

July 29th

Ireland 61-95 Croatia

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Ireland FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers Round 3

Group G fixture:

August 5^th

Ireland v Luxembourg, 1930, National Basketball Arena (Live on TG4)