Keenan’s men capture FIBA European title in Tallaght

IRELAND men’s basketball team captured the FIBA European Championship for Small Countries title following a 97-66 point victory over Malta at the National Basketball Arena last night.

For Ireland and Griffith College Templeogue head coach, Mark Keenan, that feat served to complete an international double given that he won the 1994 Promotions Cup as Ireland captain, also at Basketball Ireland headquarters in Tallaght, while Ireland assistant coach Adrian Fulton was also part of that 1994 winning team.

Ireland captain Jason Killeen celebrates with team-mates after the hosts won the FIBA Men’s European Championship for Small Countries in Tallaght. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

Coming into last night match’s on the back of convincing wins over Andorra, San Marino and Gibraltar, Ireland carved out a 23-17 lead by the close of the first quarter in their final match.

The hosts were off the mark after two minutes thanks to a jump shot by John Carroll who emerged Ireland’s top scorer from this match with 20 points while Jordan Blount weighed in with 17.

Ireland extended their lead by three early in the second quarter by way of a Will Hanley jump shot only to see Malta hit back with eight unanswered points to reduce their arrears to the very minimum – 26-25.

Malta’s scoring run was ended, however, by a superb three-pointer from Sean Flood, who amassed 12 points by half-time.

Mark Keenan’s side maintained their momentum to race 66-38 ahead by the midway mark in the third quarter.

But the visitors narrowed that gap, with Alec Felice Pace hitting eight points in that period, while the Falzon brothers, Tevin and Aaron, constantly posed a threat.

Still Ireland remained 19 points to the good heading into the final quarter and Templeogue’s Neil Randolph completed the scoring in style with a three-point jump shot in the closing seconds.

Delighted with the win and tournament title, Ireland head coach Keenan said “It’s unreal, absolutely delighted. We pulled off another great performance.

“I know it was a little bit dodgy in the second half, but we got that comfortable lead.

“A bit of a slow start for both teams, but we got on top and we got a great second quarter to push it out at half-time. The guys are superb, I think they’re all MVP’s there.

“They all sacrificed minutes for the good of the team and that is how we won the tournament, hats off. The rest of my staff, absolutely super.”

“It would have been lovely to have two thousand fans here to cheer on, but it doesn’t take away from what’s an absolute achievement and I think this team now needs to move on now. I think we’ve showed, Basketball Ireland, we need to be at the next level” he stressed.