Ireland triumph on the road; Albania, Austria and Norway enjoy home comforts

MUNICH (Germany) - The long road to FIBA EuroBasket 2025 began as the quartet of Albania, Austria, Ireland and Norway celebrated wins to open their campaigns in the Pre-Qualifiers.

Ireland marked their return amongst the path towards Europe's major tournament with an 81-73 victory away at Cyprus with Jordan Blount top scoring with 21 points. John Carroll added a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds as the visitors pulled away in the second quarter and led by as many as 19 points inside the first half.

There was also a comfortable win for Austria in Group A as they eased past Switzerland in an 80-64 victory to join Ireland in a winning start. Bogic Vusevic had a game-high of 20 points for the hosts with Guylain Mbemba adding a 15-point, 12-rebound double-double.

Meanwhile, Rei Pullaz led the way with 24 points as Albania came from behind to defeat Luxembourg 92-89 in Group B. The home side outscored their opponents 24-15 to get off to a winning start in Durres, despite 27 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists from Clancy Rugg.

Norway recorded an 86-77 win over Kosovo in Bergen to open proceedings in Group C with a trio leading their charge. Chris-Ebou Ndow starred with 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting to go with 8 rebounds, while Karamo Jawara had a 16-7-7 statline and Harald Frey posted 13 points and 5 assists.

The opening window concludes on Sunday with four more games including first games for Denmark and Romania.

FIBA