Croatia, Belgium, Israel, Greece double victories, Sweden hands Turkey the upset

By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net

Gameday 2 of the EuroBasket Qualifiers was concluded with a couple of teams closing the first Window of the competition with a spotless record, others bouncing back from hard losses and some falling victim to upsets.

Sweden forced Turkey to the 0/2 in the openers by taking an 87 – 80 win in front of a record-breaking crowd of 11.500 fans in Stockholm. Lude Hakkanson produced 23 points for the winning side while Sertac Sanli had 23 points for Turkey.

You can classify that one as an upset as well: Thanks to a 24-2 run, Bulgaria achieved a huge comeback to defeat Latvia 110 – 104 in a double-overtime thriller. It was a game of big-time shots, including buzzer-beaters, and plays, particularly down the stretch.

Dee Bost scored (23 points) and created for his teammates (eight assists) to pace Bulgaria while Mareks Mejeris was everywhere for Latvia with 20 points, six rebounds and five assists.

After falling victim to a shocker in the hands of Belgium, Lithuania downed the Czech Republic 97 – 89 behind Eimantas Bendzius’ 26 points. Vojtech Hruban (26 points) stood out from the Czech Republic.

Croatia, Belgium, Greece and Israel made the two out of two to complete the phase as standings leaders. The latter had NBA Draft prospect Deni Evdija emerging as a leader with 21 points and eight rebounds.

Results and Standings (via FIBA):

Group C:

Denmark – Belgium 72 – 88

Lithuania – Czech Republic 97 – 89

Group D:

The Netherlands – Croatia 59 – 69

Sweden – Turkey 87 – 80

Group G:

France – Montenegro 85 – 66

Great Britain – Germany 81 – 73

Group H:

Bulgaria – Latvia 110 – 104

Bosnia and Herzegovina 65 – 70