Ireland beaten by Switzerland in U18 European Challengers

Ireland’s U18 men’s team lost 94-83 to Switzerland in their classification game at the FIBA U18 European Challengers. Killian Gribben had another commanding performance with 21 points, 17 rebounds, one assist, two steals and three blocks. Belfast Star’s Darragh Fergurson was the game’s top scorer with 25 points. Wede Esajobor continued his unselfish play leading his team with 4 assists.

Despite outscoring the Swiss in the second and third quarters and being just a point down heading into the final quarter, strong offensive performances from Dell’Acqua, Isotta and Martinez, with 21, 20 and 18 points respectively, proved too much for the Irish side. 

With a final deficit of just 11 points, it was another resilient performance from this Ireland team who continued to battle throughout this competition.

Quarter Score:

Q1 27-17, Q2 25-28, Q3 16-24, Q4 26-14.

Ireland: Reece Barry (7), Wede Esajobor (9), Darragh Ferguson (25), Killian Gribben (21), Tim Pollmann-Daamen (0), Joseph Coughlan (10), Ruairi Cronin (3), Cillian O’Connell (0) Jack O’Leary (2), Michael O’Mahony (DNP), Sean Pollmann-Daamen (2), Ajay Ryan Walsh (4)

Switzerland: Omar Ali (3), Gael Xavier Barman (3) Kevin Bernardinello (2), Ugo Redondo Dassin (12), Massimiliano Dell’Acqua (21), Adnan Elkazevic (0), Nicolo Isotta (20), Augustin Lacroix (2), Rafael Martinez (18), Yanic Konan Niederhauser (11), David Vuckovic (2)