By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
After Russia, four national teams also checked their tickets for the Eurobasket 2017 in the 5th day of the qualifiers.
Either with… ridiculous ease or after overcoming tough obstacles placed by their opponents, Hungary, Slovenia, Montenegro and Belgium maintained their perfect record to seal their place in next year’s grand competition.
Group A
Undefeated Belgium destroyed Switzerland 87 – 49 punching its way to the Eurobasket. Jonathan Tabu paced the “Lions” with 20 points and Retin Obasohan added 16 plus 6 rebounds. With 9 points, Jonathan Kazadi was the top scorer of the Swiss.
Iceland (Hlynur Baeringsson 18 points, 9 rebounds) was behind the score 17 – 20 at the end of the first quarter but reacted by outscoring Cyprus (Andreas Sizopoulos 12 points) 52 – 26 in the following 20 minutes, finally winning 84 – 62.
Standings
Belgium 5 – 0
Iceland 3 – 2
Switzerland 1 – 4
Cyprus 1 – 4
Group B
Close, but not an upset in Leiden. The Netherlands (Worthy De Jong 20 points, Roeland Schaaftenar 14 points, 11 rebounds) were trailing during most of the 40-minute period against Denmark (Jonas Zohore Bergstedt 23 points 7 rebounds) but managed to force an overtime before ultimately winning 98 – 88.
After two negative results, Germany (Johannes Voigtman 19 points, 10 rebounds) returned to victories by defeating Austria (Rasid Mahalbasic 21 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) 78 – 58.
Standings
The Netherlands 4 – 1
Germany 3 – 2
Austria 2 – 3
Denmark 1– 4
Group C
Without Mirza Teletovic and lots of clouds darkening the atmosphere that surrounds the team, Bosnia almost fell victim to an upset in the hands of Sweden but managed to escape with a narrow 78 – 76 win. Not without a cost, however, since 21-year old Nedim Buza suffered a horrible injury after breaking his leg.
Jusuf Nurkic, who traveled to the Scandinavian country on his own, delivered a double-double (21 points and 10 rebounds) as did Miralem Halilovic (18 points and 10 rebounds). Thomas Massamba had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists for Sweden.
Standings
Russia 4 – 0
Bosnia 2 – 2
Sweden 0 – 3
Russia had the day off
Group D
The surprise of the fifth round took place in Torun where Belarus prevailed on the road 76 – 57 over Poland (Mateusz Ponitka 16 points, 5 rebounds) by forcing them to a really ugly offensive output. The home team struggled to connect with the basket, shooting with a poor 35.5% from the field.
Meanwhile, their opponents produced 63 points after the first quarter, achieving their desired result quite easily. Naturalized point guard Maalik Wayns scored 20 points and dished 4 assists, while Artsiom Parakhouski registered a double-double of 14 points plus 10 rebounds.
Estonia (Kristjan Kitsing 14 points, 5 rebounds) faced some problems vs Portugal (Joao Gomes 20 points, 10 rebounds) at the first half but was too strong after its return from the locker rooms, ultimately winning 82 – 63.
Standings
Poland 4 – 1
Estonia 3 – 2
Belarus 2 – 3
Portugal 0 – 5
Group E
Goran Dragic (17 points, 10 assists) orchestrated his team’s offensive game beautifully, as Slovenia beat Bulgaria 85 – 63 checking the ticket to the Eurobasket 2017! The Bulgarian team had few hopes in the absence of Sasha Vezenkov and Dee Bost, with only Jason Washburn (18 points, 8 rebounds) registering a noteworthy performance.
Another dominating performance by Vyacheslav Kravtsov (16 points, 12 rebounds) and a new victory for Ukraine, 100 – 61 against Kosovo. The guests did not appear competitive at any point in the game, having Dardan Berisha (20 points, 5 rebounds) as their best player.
Standings
Slovenia 5 – 0
Ukraine 4 – 1
Bulgaria 1 – 4
Kosovo 0 – 5
Group F
With an absolutely brilliant Tornike Shengelia (31 points, 6 rebounds) rocking the house, Georgia cruised past Slovak Republic 96 – 68 in Tbilisi. Nenad Milosevic threw 21 points for the losing side, which included 5/9 from downtown.
Laying the foundations of its game on great teamwork, Montenegro (Vladimir Mihailovic 13 points, Nikola Vucevic 12 points – 5 rebounds – 5 assists) remained perfect and triumphantly qualified to the Eurobasket by blowing Albania (Gerti Shima 24 points, 5 rebounds) away 94 – 56.
Standings
Montenegro 5 – 0
Georgia 4 – 1
Slovakia 1 – 4
Albania 0 – 5
Group G
Hungary made the 5/5 and advanced to its first Eurobasket tournament since 1999! It wasn’t easy for Adam Hanga (18 points, 6 rebounds) and co. against a really tenacious Luxemburg (Samy Picard 15 points, 6 rebounds) but in the end, the sweet victory (65 – 68) came that brought the ticket to the Eurobasket.
One highly important 89 – 62 road win for Great Britain vs FYROM that also arrived in a comfortable fashion. The duo of Daniel Clark (21 points, 5 rebounds) and Gabe Olaseni (13 points, 8 rebounds) got the job done for the Brits, while Kyril Nikolovski (17 points) and Vojdan Stojavoski (15 points) scored in double-digits for the hosts.
Standings
Hungary 5 – 0
Great Britain 4 – 1
FYROM 2 – 3
Luxemburg 0 – 5
Photo by FIBA