Basketball European Championship: Ireland registered their first win in this European Championship Division B, Group A men's qualifier at the National Arena on Saturday to keep their hopes of playing top tier basketball alive.
Ireland's 76-70 win over Cyprus means that they can still mathematically win the group if they win their remaining three matches while also beating group leaders Romania by 20 in their return away game next year.
Romania's 69-58 win over Switzerland on Saturday would seem to leave them in pole position to top the group but Ireland can at least content themselves with an improved display at the weekend.
Coach Greg Gurr, who took over the reins this season, was under pressure to deliver after a very lacklustre display against the Romanians last Saturday week.
But the Irish began very promisingly with Phoenix Suns NBA star Pat Burke registering two trademark slam dunks in the first quarter.
But Cyprus, who currently prop up the group, countered with a succession of scores through Georgios Georgiou. By the end of the first quarter Cyprus lead 26-16 but Burke with a point to prove after a below-average display in his last game then chipped in with two three pointers to tie the game midway through the second quarter.
Cyprus rallied late on to regain the advantage to lead 44-38 at half-time but the introduction of William Baker Dunleavy, a new addition to the Irish squad this season, was to have a big bearing on the game.
Dunleavy's entrance was to see Ireland gradually chip away at the Cyprus lead and by the end of the third quarter, baskets from Dan Callahan and Mike Williams had edged Ireland ahead 63-54.
Cyprus briefly edged ahead again in the final period to lead 66-65 but with Jay Larranaga again proving his worth from the three-point zone, Ireland had enough in reserve to win out in the end.
The previous game saw the Irish women's team under Maeve Coleman succumb disappointingly to the Netherlands on a 77-53 scoreline.
This Division B, Group A game was a one-sided affair with the Netherlands' outside shooting proving the difference between the two teams.
Ireland, despite the efforts of Suzanne Maguire, had trailed 22-15 at the end of the first quarter and it was then that the Netherlands made their move when Laura Kooij chipped in a brace of three pointers to leave them comfortably ahead, 43-23, at half-time.
The Netherlands were never pushed after that with the Irish team, in the absence of Michelle Aspell, failing to mount any sort of challenge after the break.
THE DETAILS
WOMEN: Ireland 53 (23) (K Maher 9, N O'Brien 9 S Maguire 8, L Peat 7), Netherlands 77 (43) (Leoni Kooij 21, Laura Kooij 16, T Broring 15).
MEN: Ireland 76 (38) (P Burke 20, J Larranaga 19, C Bracey 9), Cyprus 70 (44) (G Georgiou 18, P Trisokkas 17, Panagiotis Serdaris 16).
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