Ireland 57-64 Denmark
Denmark defeated Ireland in their friendly fixture at the National Basketball Arena as the home side were punished for a number of sloppy turnovers.
Ireland made blistering start to the contest, John Carroll - playing his first home international since reversing his decision to retire - opened the scoring with a three.
Back-to-back three’s from Taiwo Badmus, who finished with a game-high 23 points, and another by Jordan Blount had Ireland up 18-8, with a little over three minutes to go in the first quarter, however that lead was cut to 19-15.
Ireland suffered a blow when they lost Blount to an ankle injury in the second quarter, which curtailed their options.
The game was level at 21-21 following Sylvester Berg’s dunk three and a half minutes into the second quarter. An Anton Ostoft three followed to put the Danes in front, cancelled out swiftly by another Badmus three and it was 24-24.
A nine point run from the Danes was finally ended by Sean Flood’s three, to see Ireland trail 33-27. The Danes led 35-29 at half-time.
Ireland closed to within a point at 38-37 two and a half minutes into the third, following Neal Quinn’s rebound.
Gustav Shur Jessen’s three had the Denmark up 44-39 with four minutes to go. But Ireland reclaimed the lead following Matt Treacy’s corner three and a basket and free throw from Badmus to put them 45-44 up.
A nice fadeaway jump shot from Adrian O’Sullivan had Ireland in front by three at 50-47 with 1’21 left. The teams exchanged free throws, and Ireland led 51-49 going into the final quarter.
Denmark started the fourth with a seven-point run. Badmus got Ireland’s first points of quarter from the three point line, to bring his tally to 21 points at that stage and Ireland trailed 56-54 with four and a half minutes remaining in the contest.
In a low scoring affair, baskets from Tobias Jensen and Sylvester Berg either side of a Mads Bonde free throw made it a seven-point game at 61-54 with a minute and a half to go.
It was an uphill task for Ireland, another Badmus basket followed, but it was Denmark’s night.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
