By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
All eyes were on Group I and the game between Montenegro and Latvia which belonged to the latter but the hosts still managed to do enough and grab Europe’s last ticket to the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China. In doing so, Montenegrin squad will play the World Cup for the first time ever while also writing out the competition history as the smallest nation to do so with the population just over 600,000.
In the same group, Turkey challenged Spain for the first spot but the Spaniards didn’t budge and kept the top with a convincing win.
Poland hosted Netherlands for the last game of the FIBA WC European Qualifiers and after beating Croatia to secure a ticket, now they’ve also closed the qualifiers with an easy win.
Yesterday (24/2), Russia and Serbia grabbed their tickets after beating Finland and Israel respectively while the other nine WC spots were reserved before the last Gameday.
The following 12 European nations qualified for the 2019 FIBA World Cup: Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Spain and Turkey.
Gameday 12 results and final standings:
Group I
Slovenia – Ukraine 85-84 (OT)
Montenegro – Latvia 74-80
Spain – Turkey 74-58
| GAMES | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | Spain* | 12 | 10 | 2 | 83.3 | 927 | 848 | 79 | 77.2 | 70.7 | 22 |
| 2 | Turkey* | 12 | 8 | 4 | 66.7 | 874 | 805 | 69 | 72.8 | 67.1 | 20 |
| 3 | Montenegro* | 12 | 7 | 5 | 58.3 | 918 | 901 | 17 | 76.5 | 75.1 | 19 |
| 4 | Latvia | 12 | 7 | 5 | 58.3 | 943 | 914 | 29 | 78.6 | 76.2 | 19 |
| 5 | Ukraine | 12 | 5 | 7 | 41.7 | 908 | 892 | 16 | 75.7 | 74.3 | 17 |
| 6 | Slovenia | 12 | 3 | 9 | 25.0 | 909 | 988 | -79 | 75.8 | 82.3 | 15 |
Group J
Hungary – Croatia 84-65
Lithuania – Italy 86-73
Poland – Netherlands 85-76
| GAMES | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | Lithuania* | 12 | 11 | 1 | 91.7 | 999 | 802 | 197 | 83.2 | 66.8 | 23 |
| 2 | Italy* | 12 | 8 | 4 | 66.7 | 940 | 836 | 104 | 78.3 | 69.7 | 20 |
| 3 | Poland* | 11 | 7 | 4 | 63.6 | 873 | 810 | 63 | 79.4 | 73.6 | 18 |
| 4 | Hungary | 12 | 6 | 6 | 50.0 | 836 | 849 | -13 | 69.7 | 70.8 | 18 |
| 5 | Croatia | 12 | 4 | 8 | 33.3 | 858 | 891 | -33 | 71.5 | 74.2 | 16 |
| 6 | Netherlands | 11 | 3 | 8 | 27.3 | 819 | 859 | -40 | 74.5 | 78.1 | 14 |
Group K
Russia – Finland 91-76
France – Czech Republic 82-66
Bosnia and Herzegovina – Bulgaria 87-67
| GAMES | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | France* | 12 | 10 | 2 | 83.3 | 937 | 778 | 159 | 78.1 | 64.8 | 22 |
| 2 | Russia* | 12 | 8 | 4 | 66.7 | 966 | 853 | 113 | 80.5 | 71.1 | 20 |
| 3 | Czech Republic* | 12 | 8 | 4 | 66.7 | 890 | 889 | 1 | 74.2 | 74.1 | 20 |
| 4 | Finland | 12 | 6 | 6 | 50.0 | 913 | 927 | -14 | 76.1 | 77.2 | 18 |
| 5 | Bulgaria | 12 | 4 | 8 | 33.3 | 882 | 971 | -89 | 73.5 | 80.9 | 16 |
| 6 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 12 | 3 | 9 | 25.0 | 871 | 957 | -86 | 72.6 | 79.8 | 15 |
Group L
Georgia – Estonia 77-84
Serbia – Israel 97-76
Germany – Greece 63-69
| GAMES | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | Greece* | 12 | 11 | 1 | 91.7 | 972 | 880 | 92 | 81 | 73.3 | 23 |
| 2 | Germany* | 12 | 9 | 3 | 75.0 | 1017 | 867 | 150 | 84.8 | 72.2 | 21 |
| 3 | Serbia* | 12 | 7 | 5 | 58.3 | 993 | 875 | 118 | 82.8 | 72.9 | 19 |
| 4 | Georgia | 12 | 5 | 7 | 41.7 | 927 | 968 | -41 | 77.2 | 80.7 | 17 |
| 5 | Israel | 12 | 5 | 7 | 41.7 | 925 | 974 | -49 | 77.1 | 81.2 | 17 |
| 6 | Estonia | 12 | 4 | 8 | 33.3 | 821 | 950 | -129 | 68.4 | 79.2 | 16 |
Photo Credit: FIBA