Ireland lose by 3 to Romania at U18 European Challengers

The Ireland U18 men's team have lost their classification game 79-76 against Romania at the FIBA European Challengers. Ireland trailed by five after the first half, but succeeded in outscoring Romania in the next two quarters. Despite an impressive 3rd quarter that put them ahead by five heading into the final ten minutes, Romania were resilient and scored well in this last chapter, earning their victory. One feat of Ireland's performance which demonstrates the effort of the entire team is that every player that played in the game scored. Reece Barry stood out among these performances again, making 16 points and six rebounds in the game. It was also an impressive 18 points scored by Darragh Ferguson, complemented well by his six steals. Again Killian Gribben was also a big asset for Ireland, scoring 11 points, with eight rebounds and five steals.

Ireland's final game of the tournament is against Switzerland, with tip-off at 2pm (Irish time) on Sunday 8th August. To watch the game live, click here.

Ireland: Wede Esajobor (7), Reece Barry (16), Joseph Coughlan (2), Jack O'Leary (8), Sean Pollmann-Daamen (5), Michael O'Mahony (DNP), Cillian O'Connell (2), Ruairi Cronin (4), Killian Gribben (11), Darragh Ferguson (18), Ajay Ryan Walsh (1), Tim Pollmann-Daamen (2)

Romania: Andrei Cristian Muresan, Vlad Marinau (5), Dragos Lungu (17), David Antonescu (12), Bogdan Cristian Cret (11), David Mihai Oprea (12), David Calin Lapuste, David Gabriel Neacsu (4), Darius Coste, Luca Andrei Colceag (2), Octavian Ilie (16)