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Thirteen 3-pointers from a sharp shooting Macedonia left Ireland on the wrong end of a 87-72 scoreline on Wednesday in Ohrid, a defeat which leaves the men in green in fifth position in Group C and ruled out of qualification, with only Cyprus and Bosnia to play in January.
Macedonia added three new players to the line up since Ireland's victory last November and in the absence of Cal Bowdler and Mike Mitchell, Ireland could not deliver the points.
Macedonia opened up an early lead, leaving Ireland trailing 7-2 after three minutes, before Ireland cut it back to 3-points. Dan Callahan added 11-points in the first quarter to keep Ireland in touch, while two early personal fouls on Glenn Sekunda looked ominous for Ireland. From the
outset, the 6'7'' Macedonian, Kenajn Dzons caused chaos to Ireland's defense, hitting two 3-pointers of his team-best 21 total to give Macedonia a 22-17 lead at the end of the first quarter.Ireland's decline began midway through the second quarter when two successive 3-pointers from Jovanovski allowed Macedonia a 35-23 lead. None of the Irish players looked impressive offensively, with Larranaga, Kennedy, Callahan and Conlon all missing outside shots while Macedonia finished the first half on six 3-pointers and leading 44-30.
Three minutes into the second half and Macedonia pulled further away, 55-35 before Ireland could respond. A 3-pointer followed by six more points from Sekunda midway through the quarter cut the Irish deficit, 57-44.
Contributions from Tim Kennedy and Dan Callahan furthered Ireland's recovery before a Macedonian three-point shooting spree set it back again. Danger-man Dzohs picked up his fourth personal foul in the third quarter, but added two 3-pointers, finishing 68-51.
A superb final quarter from Sekunda and Callahan - who would finish with 24 and 23 points respectively - brought Ireland right back into the game, cutting it back to 76-67 after six minutes. When Dzohs picked up his fifth personal foul leaving Macedonia in disarray, Ireland looked certain to threaten the hosts.
However four missed baskets later and Ireland's chance was lost and when Stefanof delivered a big 3-pointer, the game was up.
In the same group, Croatia all but secured a spot in Sweden 2003 with a 87-76 win in Cyprus.
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