Ireland men's U18 team beat Scotland 76-59 in final Four Nations game

Paul Kelleher's Ireland U18 men's team got a win under their belts in the Four Nations competition, as they beat Scotland 76-59 on Thursday morning.

The Irish team got off on the front foot early on with Aivaras Uosis knocking down a two point jump shot to open the scoring. The Kerry man made the first quarter his own, ending up with a 17 point contribution.

 Aivaras Uosis // @sameoldsmith

Sean Fitzpatrick and Tony Ezeonu also aided the Irish on the scoring charts to end up on the right side of a 27-19 scoreline at the end of the first. 

The gap would prove to be a difficult one to close for the Scots, as Uosis and Brendan Douanla teamed up to open up a sizable 14 point gap between the sides.

 Tony Ezeonu // @sameoldsmith

Early in the third quarter, Francois Nkoy and Ruairí Cronin sank a couple of threes to put paid to some Irish dominance on both sides of the court, while debutant Jakub Pasiecznyl also got his first score for Ireland to go with his six rebounds. Daryl Cuff and Ryan Calo also entered the fray.

The shooting of the Ireland team was what set them apart from Scotland, with Kellher's side shooting with 41% accuracy, as opposed to their counterparts 30%.

 Jakub Pasieczny of Ireland and Phoenix Rockets - @sameoldsmith

There was a late flurry of Scotland points, but once again, Ireland pushed on to ensure the win, thanks to Tony Ezeonu reaching a 20 point tally.

Having lost earlier games to England and Wales, this was an important result for the U18 team with the European Championships around the corner. 

Speaking after the game, head coach Paul Kelleher had this to say: 

🎙 “𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬.“

Post-match with Ireland men’s U18 head coach @PaulTKelleher after the win over Scotland. ☘️#FourNations2022 | @AwmContractsLtd pic.twitter.com/kbkEzZQQ9r

— Basketball Ireland (@BballIrl) April 14, 2022

Top scorers vs Scotland

• Aivaras Uosis, 23 points
• Tony Ezeonu, 20 points
• Ruairí Cronin, 12 poin

Results

Wales 77-58 Ireland

Ireland 58-78 England

Ireland 76-59 Scotland

The live broadcasts of all games can be played back in full here. 

☘️ 𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭.

43 points between Tony Ezeonu and Aivaras Uosis against Scotland this morning to end the campaign. #FourNations2022 | @AwmContractsLtd pic.twitter.com/liAtbOTO4w

— Basketball Ireland (@BballIrl) April 14, 2022