By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Serbian national team missed the chance to book a place at the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Athens, but had another one at home against Great Britain, and finally made it with a 101:83 victory.
It wasn’t as smooth as expected, until the final 10-15 minutes, but Svetislav Pesic’s players got the job done in style, with Aleksa Avramovcic leading the way with 20 points.
Crvena Zvezda’s trio followed with Luka Mitrovic scoring 15, Ognjen Dobric 14, and Filip Petrusev 12 points, while Fenerbahce’s Marko Guduric added 13, with six assists.
For the losing side 22 points from Quinn Ellis, Carl Wheatle scored 16 and Amin Adamu 14 points.
Serbia went through from Group I, alongside Latvia and Greece, who clashed today in Riga, as the group leaders defeated the Greek team 67-57.
Toms Leimanis and Arturs Strautins with 11 points each, and Dairis Bertans with 10 points led the winning side, while Greece had no players in double figures, with Manos Chatzidakis as the top scorer with nine points.
Voigtmann’s show in Espoo, late drama in Sweden
Finland and Germany gave a good show to fans in Espoo, even though both teams had qualified before the match. The Eurobasket bronze medalists eventually won 87-81.
Johannes Voigtmann shined with a near-triple-double performance, scoring 23 points with nine rebounds and assists.
David Kramer added 16 points, Karim Jallow 14, and Jonas Richter 10, while Justus Hollatz had six points and rebounds, but 14 assists!
Mikael Jantunen scored 20 points for the losing side, Alex Murphy and Topias Palmi added 16, while Sasu Salin scored 10.
Israel defeated Slovenia 87-79 behind 20 points from Nimrod Levi, as Gregor Glas scored 26 for the losing side.
Estonia won in Sweden 72-71, thanks to a late free throw from Mikk Jurkatamm. Kristjan Kitsing was the top scorer of the winning side with 14 points, while Melwin Pantzar scored 23 with eight rebounds for Sweden.
In the end, Turkey defeated Belgium 82-54 in Mons, thanks to 19 points and nine rebounds from Dogus Ozdemiroglu.
Erxhan Osmani added 15 with seven rebounds, while Sehmus Hazer scored 13. Manu Lecomte was the only one in double digits for the losing side with 13 points.
2023 FIBA World Cup European qualifiers – final standings
Group I
1. Latvia 8-1
2. Serbia 6-4
3. Greece 6-4
4. Turkey 4-6
5. Belgium 4-6
6. Great Britain 1-9
Group J
1. Germany 10-2
2. Finland 9-3
3. Slovenia 7-5
4. Sweden 5-7
5. Israel 4-8
6. Estonia 4-8
Group K
1. France 10-2
2. Lithuania 9-3
3. Montenegro 7-5
4. Hungary 6-6
5. Bosnia and Herzegovina 6-6
6. Czech Republic 3-9
Group L
1. Spain 8-2
2. Italy 8-2
3. Georgia 5-5
4. Iceland 5-5
5. Ukraine 4-6
6. Netherlands 0-10