Impressive Ireland defeat Azerbaijan 91-67 in FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Pre-Qualifier

Ireland put themselves right back into contention in Group A of FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Pre-Qualifiers, thanks to a commanding 91-67 win over Azerbaijan at the National Basketball Arena. Captain Sean Flood led by example hitting 28 points, while Jordan Blount amassed 13 points and 12 rebounds and Neal Quinn had 13 points and eight rebounds.

Ireland made an excellent start and set the tempo early on, Paul Dick’s layup, back-to-back threes’ from Flood and Blount, followed by a John Carroll basket put the home side into a 10-0 lead three and a half minutes in.

Flood racked up 10 points in the opening quarter, his third from the three point line had Ireland 20-9 up with a little over two minutes to go in the first. A corner three from Matt Treacy and an Aidan Igiehon jump shot put Ireland 25-11 in front late on, before a Jordan Davis free throw reduced the deficit in closing seconds of the quarter.

A Davis free throw and two point jump shot gave Azerbaijan a good start to the second quarter. Ireland finally got off the mark through Carroll’s layup two and a half minutes in, to lead 27-15.

Blount's three midway through the quarter put Ireland 34-17 ahead, prompting an Azerbaijan timeout. Ireland finished the quarter strongly, thanks to a pair of jump shots each from Blount and Igiehon, with a Davis layup in the middle, but Ireland had a commanding 48-25 advantage by half-time.

Offensively Ireland were clicking together beautifully, Dick and Carroll linked up nicely to fashion space for Flood to land his fourth from the three point line, to put Ireland 57-30 up. Flood made it a 30-point game, 61-31 with his fifth three, but Azerbaijan responded with back-to-back threes from Orhan Haciyeva and Kamran Mammadov.

Ireland’s defence was also tenacious throughout, exemplified by Igiehon’s block on Mammadov with four minutes to go in the quarter. Moments later Flood landed another three from the corner, Ireland were 64-37 up and they’d lead 71-45 by the end of the third quarter.

David Lehane came on for his international debut early in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile Conor Quinn made his presence felt in the quarter, with a pair of threes to help Ireland into a 30-point lead, 82-52, three minutes in. Davis was Azerbaijan’s most potent threat, a three and a dunk from him closed the gap to 85-57 just after the midpoint – he’d finish with 25 points.

A neat layup from under the basket from Blount had Ireland 89-64 up. A pair of Flood free throws completed proceedings, wrapping up a fine performance from the Irish team.

An elated Ireland head coach, Mark Keenan, said: “Absolutely delighted with the win, probably one of the best first halves we’ve seen here from ourselves, so absolutely delighted. We built up a great lead, obviously in the second half it’s hard to keep up that intensity, when you get 25-30 up, but overall delighted. It’s the first half of the job though, the second half to come on Sunday (against Kosovo). ”

Keenan also hailed the defensive performance of his players, “67, that’s a great, we probably thought it was going to be in the 70’s. We set our stall out, they only scored 25 at half-time. You had Aidan (Igiehon) with a couple of big blocks, Neal (Quinn), coming from behind the defence and that only gives us energy.”

Ireland face Kosovo at 5pm on Sunday in their next FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Pre-Qualifier at the National Basketball Arena. The game is live on TG4, while spectator tickets available to purchase here.

Quarter Scores:

Q1: 25-12, Q2: 23-13 Q3: 23-20, Q4: 20-22

Game Scores:

Q1: 25-12, Q2: 48-25, Q3: 71-45, Q4: 91-67

 

Ireland:

Adrian O’Sullivan (0), Roy Downey  (5), Sean Flood (28), Conor Quinn (8), Jordan Blount (13), Rapolas Buivydas (2), David Lehane  (0), Matt Treacy (3), Paul Dick (4), Neal Quinn (13), Aidan Harris-Igiehon (6), John Carroll (9).

Azerbaijan:

Jordan Davis (25), Zaur Pashayev (6) Orhan Haciyeva (10), Ulas Turgut (5), Elshad Shirzadov (0), Jabrayil Akbarov (DNP), Amil Hamzayev (3), Kamran Mammadov (2), Shirzad Shirzadov (4).

FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Pre-Qualifiers Result:

Thursday 21st November

Ireland 91-67 Azerbaijan

FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Pre-Qualifiers Fixture:

Sunday 24h November

Ireland v Kosovo, National Basketball Arena, 5pm (Live on TG4)