By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Moving up to 3-1 was the case for France and also a safety line for Lithuania in EuroBasket’s Group B.
France wins 68-81 against Bosnia and Herzegovina with a great display by former Real Madrid teammates Guerschon Yabusele (15 p., 5 r.) and Thomas Heurtel (14 p., 7 r., 8 a.). French centers Rudy Gobert (11 p., 12 r.) and Vincent Poirier (9 p., 7 r.) were also helpful, just like Evan Fournier (14 p.).
Two weeks ago, Bosnia and Herzegovina got a great 96-90 victory against France in the 2023 FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers. Today, however, Vincent Collet’s team got its revenge, going up 3-1 in Group B and leaving Lithuania’s fate in its hands.
“It’s the first day that the crowd is with us (he laughs, ed), so it feels great. We started the game with good intensity from the first few minutes. We kept our head up in the end, a great victory for us tonight”, Thomas Heurtel commented. “We played a really serious game. Bosnia was excellent at the beginning, they gave everything but we stayed solid and we didn’t panic. The result is logical, I think”, coach Vincent Collet said.
Bosnia’s 2-3 zone defense doesn’t contain its opponents’ offense, while Jusuf Nurkic’s impressive performance (14 p., 10 r.) isn’t enough. Dzanan Musa (14 p.), Miralem Halilovic (14 p., 5 r., 7/10 FG), and John Roberson (13 p.) did their best as well, but Bosnia isn’t qualified for the Round of 16 yet.
“Tough game, we didn’t make enough plays. 19 turnovers are way too many against a good team like France. We need to be ready for tomorrow”, John Roberson said. “I think we played the maximum that we have now in our hands. We almost changed the rhythm to win the game, we are always dangerous and we can maybe beat everybody. We have to take care of tomorrow’s game”, coach Aziz Bekir added.
France closed the first half up by 10 points, with a convincing display on defense, with Rudy Gobert and Vincent Poirier giving their team a lot of second chance opportunities (7 offensive rebounds combined), while their teammates shot very well from the arc (6/12). Since the beginning of the third quarter, Bosnia couldn’t find any three-point rhythm (6/25 from the perimeter), while both teams waste a lot: at the final buzzer, 19 turnovers for Bosnia and 18 turnovers for France.
Alive and well following the positive news delivered by France, Lithuania outmatched Hungary, 87-64, in the second game at Cologne’s Lanxess Arena Tuesday. Bosnia-Herzegovina and Lithuania matching up in their last Group B will determine the holder of the fourth qualifying spot tomorrow at 14:30.
Dominating display from the pair of NBA bigs as national team captain Jonas Valanciunas ended up with 21 points and eight rebounds in 17 minutes, while Domantas Sabonis added 19 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Hungary was missing key player Adam Hanga and highlighted by Zoltan Perl tallying 16 points in the latest losing effort.
More action with Luka Doncic putting up a monster 36-point, 10-rebound double-double and leading Slovenia to the win, 88-80, against Germany.
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL