IRELAND signalled their intent at the European Championships with this 48-point victory over San Marino, with Seán Flood and Will Hanley shooting 15 points apiece at Dublin’s National Basketball Arena.

The home side now sit level on points with Malta and just one behind Andorra, who lead the round-robin competition.

Ireland and the Maltese have a game in hand on the leaders, and Sunday’s clash between the two island nations could decide who claims the spoils should both countries triumph in their Saturday games.

In any case, Mark Keenan’s men must win their remaining games for their best chance at championship victory.

Keenan is well placed to take them there, having captained an undefeated Ireland to European glory the last time Dublin hosted this tournament in 1994.

Speaking before the tournament the head coach said he hoped his charges would be “talking about this tournament for the next 30 years also”.

His players will hope to remember this year’s competition for all the right reasons – and there were plenty of them yesterday.

“The most pleasing thing was the manner we started the game,” said Keenan last night. “We came out with the right manner. We really shook them down and we got a nice few turnovers early to take the momentum defensively.”

A John Carroll jump shot got them off the mark in the third minute after a cagey opening spell which saw several missed baskets.

However, Ireland quickly found their firepower through Connecticut-born Hanley, who shot two three-pointers and registered 10 points before the second period.

San Marino, meanwhile, struggled against a resolute home defence, scoring only one field goal in the dying seconds of the opening quarter with a Francesco Palmieri three-pointer.

In the second period, things started marginally better for visitors, in that they scored more than one field goal, but it remained an uphill battle.

Ireland maintained control over proceedings in this spell and by half-time every man in green had registered on the scoreboard.

Ireland began to reap reward from their players who ply their trade abroad. CJ Fulton – bound for Division 1 college basketball and Flood – recently returned from the professional game in Germany – both hit nine points by half-time to help Ireland lead by 59-22.

The wild encouragement from San Marino bench in the third quarter failed to have any significant impact on their side as the visitors trailed Ireland by 80-45.

Captain Jason Killeen’s slam dunk to put Ireland 100-59 ahead killed any further competition and boosted his side ahead of their next clash against Gibraltar tomorrow at 7.0.