Ireland 76 North Macedonia 88

Ireland’s Sam Alajiki in action against Jacob Wiley of North Macedonia during the Fiba EuroBasket 2029 pre-qualifier at the National Basketball Arena. Photo: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile

Ireland’s hopes of reaching EuroBasket 2029 suffered another setback with this 12-point defeat at the National Basketball Arena.

The result deepens their struggles after losing to Luxembourg in their campaign’s opening game, marking a unfortunate start to Michael Bree’s reign as head coach.

The Sligo man will now hope his side can regroup in March’s international window and keep alive their chances of progressing by either topping Group A or securing the best runner-up spot.

Ireland knew the challenge that stood in their way against the top seeds in Tallaght, but improved showed a marked improvement here after the defeat to Luxembourg.

They led for most of the first half before North Macedonia reeled them in the final period, thanks to their American-born top scorer Jacob Wiley (29 points). An long break in play as umpires reviewed a Matt Zona foul finally halted Ireland’s momentum.

“We ran out of steam. It was just so tough and so physical,” Bree said of the last quarter.

“It was reading the defence and the coverages. Guys are exhausted. The ball stops. We start dribbling. It’s a learning experience for all of us. We got to take the positive out of it.”

The performance of Sam Alajiki was one such positive, with the Dundalk man shooting 25 points to get Ireland off to flyer.

“Sam has a lot of talent. I’ve been super impressed by him. He’s got fire and passion and is exactly what this team needs.”

Seán Flood drew first blood with a two-point jump shot while Alajiki shot 10 points in the opening quarter, allowing Ireland end the period 27-20 ahead.

North Macedonia began to chip away at Ireland’s lead though. When Wiley reduced the gap to just two points an animated, Bree called for a time out but they failed to reassert the same control.

A Stojan Gjuroski three-pointer put the visitors ahead for the first time and North Macedonia enjoyed a 42-40 lead at half-time.

It remained tight in the third quarter as Alajiki added another 10 points in this period which put the home side one point ahead (62-61).

The six-foot-ten Neal Quinn shot 18 points and had helped Ireland dominate in the paint early on but Bree’s men would run out of the steam, leaving it all to do in March.