Ireland's Senior Men gained a crucial 76-70 victory over a competent Cyrus team at the National Basketball Arena on Saturday evening.
However, the game did not go all Ireland's way as Cyprus came and attacked Greg Gurr’s squad from the offset. Trisokkas Panagiotis opened the scoring before Pat Burke smashed home two slam-dunks in quick succession to turn the tables for Ireland.
It was to be a brief lead for Ireland as Cyprus opened their offensive plays and with it, Ireland’s defence. Georgios Georgiou was particularly ruthless in front of the net with a string of baskets including a delightful three-pointer in the closing seconds of the quarter. Chris Bracey lead the charge for the Ireland comeback but at the end of the quarter Ireland trailed by ten points, 16-26.
Pat Burke started off the second quarter and his scoring rhythm with a three-point score. Burke levelled the game at 28-28 with yet another three-pointer but Cyprus upped the ante with two three pointers from Nikolas Papadopoulos. Cyprus climbed into the driving seat with Panagiotis Serdaris in a rich vein of form, scoring yet another Cypriot three-pointer and a further basket to ensure Cyprus lead 38-44 at the half-time break.
In the third quarter the climate began to change as Ireland came out on court with renewed vigour. With a six point gap to close Ireland were on a mission to gain a valuable two points in the Group A qualification pool. While Cyprus netted two scores in the first half of the third, Ireland went on a scoring frenzy with baskets from Donnie McGrath and a three-pointer from Baker Dunleavy aiding Ireland in levelling the game at 48-48.
Once again Cyrus edged in front with a score from Panagiotis but another three-point score from Baker Dunleavy sent Ireland into the lead for the first time since the early stages of the first quarter. Dan Callahan and Mike Williams kept Ireland in the scoring race and at the end of the penultimate period, Ireland lead 63-54.
The final quarter saw Ireland maintaining their lead but Cyprus kept the pressure firmly on their hosts. A six point run without reply for Cyprus saw them regain the lead by a single point 65-66.
But, after clawing their way back into the game Ireland were not prepared to surrender the tie and Pat Burke continued to lead the charge with three-point scores. Jay Larranaga was freely scoring and Mike Bree also added to Ireland's three-point tally with Cyprus unable to respond to the offensive pressure. A single point for Baker Dunleavy in the final seconds of the game sealed victory for Ireland, winning 76-70.
Top Scorers:
Ireland;
Pat Burke: 20
Jay Larranaga: 19
Chris Bracey: 9
Cyprus;
Georgios Georgiou: 18
Panagiotis Trisokkas: 17
Panagiotis Serdaris: 16
