Ireland edged out by Switzerland in Euro pre-qualifier

Ireland 72-83 Switzerland

Ireland's senior men’s team pushed Switzerland to their limit but ultimately fell to 83-72 defeat in their FIBA EuroBasket 2025 pre-qualifiers game in Fribourg.

A strong second quarter got Mark Keenan’s side within four points of their opponents by half time. They trailed by the same score with a minute to go in the contest too, but couldn’t grab their second away win of the campaign.

Taiwo Badmus was Ireland’s top scorer on 20 points, along with picking up seven rebounds and three assists in a strong overall performance. He was backed up by Jordan Blount who finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and an assist, while Sean Flood had 18 points, four rebounds and five assists.

Ireland got on the board in the third minute with a Badmus dunk as they trailed 4-2. The Swiss were in control in the first quarter and led by 16 points with two minutes to go, following Mark Mladjan's jump shot, which made it 24-8.

A pair of three-point jump shots from Keelan Cairns and John Carroll straight afterwards settled Ireland, but they would trail 28-14 by the end of the quarter.

The second quarter belonged to Ireland, they outscored their opponents 23-13. A pair of Flood free throws and Blount’s three saw the gap reduced to 30-19 a minute in. Another dunk from Badmus midway through the quarter and it was 34-27. Debutant Roy Downey’s three-point jump shot made it 41-37 at half time.

The early exchanges in the third were even, Mladjan’s three-point jump shot made it 48-41 in the second minute, but up popped Blount with one of his own and it was a four-point game once more. Badmus’ driving layup with just under four minutes gone in the quarter saw Ireland trail 51-48.

The Swiss tried to keep Ireland at arm’s length, Roberto