By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Overcoming a sluggish display through large stretches, Serbia rallied past Finland in Aleksandar Nikolic Hall on Friday evening.
Opening the Qualification Round with a win, 77-61, the team coached by Svetislav Pesic inched closer to a berth in the 2025 EuroBasket.
Luka Mitrovic had 13 points in the first half and ended up with a game-high 19 points behind 7/11 two-pointers. The 30-year-old forward of Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds to boost a game-high efficiency rating of 22 and highlight a 42 versus 29 team battle on the boards.
Following with 18 points to his name, Aleksa Avramovic tallied nine points in the third quarter, fueling a dominating sprint to shift momentum from the visitors to the hosts. The Partizan Mozzart Bet guard threw in six more points in the fourth period before checking out with Serbia at a safe distance.
Secured an automatic berth as one of the four hosts of the next edition of EuroBasket, Finland left Serbia, Denmark, and Georgia competing for the two remaining tickets of Group G. However, leading for 18 minutes and peaking at an advantage of nine points scared the crowd in Belgrade.
Settling on the losing end of the Gameday 1 affair, Mikael Jantunen tipped off the Qualifiers by registering a team-high 11 points for Lassi Tuovi’s side. Elias Valtonen paired ten points with nine rebounds before fouling out.
President of FIBA Europe Jorge Garbajosa was in attendance.
Postgame press conference
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL