On Saturday evening, our men’s national team played the fourth and final game of the FIBA Eurobasket 2025 PRE-Qualifiers. On the road in Ireland, the team of head coach Ken Diederich lost a very close and thrilling game, the final score was 76:79 in favor of the guests.
Starting 5: Philippe Gutenkauf, Ben Kovac, Thomas Grün, Alex Laurent, Clancy Rugg
Ireland had a strong start into the game and took an early 10-point lead. Sparked by Malcolm Kreps, Luxembourg started the second quarter with a 11:1 run and was back in the game. The FLBB squad continued to play well in the second quarter and scored a total of 23 points while only allowing 12 from Ireland, Luxembourg led 43:41 at the break.
Ireland came out of the locker rooms with new energy and the hosts regained the lead. After an early timeout by Ken Diederich, Luxembourg reacted and was sparked by Clancy Rugg who hit multiple baskets while being fouled and helped the guests to take a 4-point lead into the fourth quarter (63:59). It was a thriller in the end, the score was tied multiple times in the final minutes of the game. In the end, Ireland won a close game by 4 points. Our national team could not hit enough shots from outside (3/27 from « 3 » in this game).
Clancy Rugg led Luxembourg with 27 points and 12 rebounds, Alex Laurent and Bob Melcher each scored 11.
game stats –> game stats Ireland – Luxembourg
All results of the competition:
Croatia – Ireland 89:49
Croatia – Luxembourg 98:62
Luxembourg – Ireland 76:96
Ireland – Croatia 61:95
Luxembourg – Croatia 79:91
Ireland – Luxembourg 79:76
The standings:
Croatia 4 games / 8 points
Ireland 4 games / 6 points
Luxembourg 4 games / 4 points
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game stats (Luxembourg)
Pictures: FIBA
