By Stefan Djordjevic / info@eurohoops.net
After a nine-month break, national teams entered their respective bubbles for the November window of the EuroBasket Qualifiers.
The first day featured a total of eight games and they didn’t pass by without a fair share of important moments, much-awaited debuts as well as surprising results.
Group C
Czech Republic – Belgium 62-90
Lithuania – Denmark 76-80
| GAMES | STREAK | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | Last 5 | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | Belgium | 3 | 3 | 0 | 100 |
|
264 | 199 | 65 | 88 | 66.3 | 6 |
| 2 | Lithuania | 3 | 1 | 2 | 33.3 |
|
238 | 255 | -17 | 79.3 | 85 | 4 |
| 3 | Denmark | 3 | 1 | 2 | 33.3 |
|
223 | 239 | -16 | 74.3 | 79.7 | 4 |
| 4 | Czech Republic | 3 | 1 | 2 | 33.3 |
|
226 | 258 | -32 | 75.3 | 86 | 4 |
Perhaps the group with the most surprising results as Denmark shocked the home team of Lithuania in the final seconds, led by Gabriel Lundberg who banked in 28 points while Mathias Bak Christensen helped with 13. For Lithuania, Deividas Gailius scored 16 followed by Tomas Dimsa’s 15 points.
? UPSET ?
Denmark ?? WIN IT in the last seconds against ??!@IffeLundberg with ICE IN HIS VEINS ?#EuroBasket pic.twitter.com/Byqo6hHhvy
— FIBA EuroBasket (@EuroBasket) November 27, 2020
Belgium showed up strong with a big-margin win over the Czech Republic and it was in no small part thanks to Retin Obasohan with 18 points and seven assists. Pierre-Antoine Gillet added 13 and Hans Vanwijn 12 points. For the opposing side, Ondrej Balvin scored 14 and Lukas Palyza 13 points.
Group D
Netherlands – Sweden 78-76
Croatia – Turkey 79-62
| GAMES | STREAK | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | Last 5 | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | Croatia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 100 |
|
220 | 177 | 43 | 73.3 | 59 | 6 |
| 2 | Netherlands | 3 | 2 | 1 | 66.7 |
|
209 | 210 | -1 | 69.7 | 70 | 5 |
| 3 | Sweden | 3 | 1 | 2 | 33.3 |
|
219 | 230 | -11 | 73 | 76.7 | 4 |
| 4 | Turkey | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
|
207 | 238 | -31 | 69 | 79.3 | 3 |
Yannick Franke scored 22 points for the Netherlands as he led the team to a narrow win while Charlon Kloof added 13 and Shane Hammink 12 points. For Sweden, Christopher Daniel Czerapowicz scored 21 and Johan Lofberg 16 points.
Meanwhile, Croatia grabbed a rather convincing win over Turkey which just recently changed the head coach. Miro Bilan was on fire with 30 points while also grabbing 12 boards. Zeljko Sakic scored 17 and Roko Rogic 12 points.
The 18-year-old Roko Prkacin debuted for the national team with six points. There was a debut on the other side as well, as Shane Larkin scored 12 points in his first game for Turkey. Melih Mahmutoglu had 14.
Group G
Great Britain – France 56-79
Germany – Montenegro 74-80
| GAMES | STREAK | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | Last 5 | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | France | 3 | 2 | 1 | 66.7 |
|
233 | 205 | 28 | 77.7 | 68.3 | 5 |
| 2 | Montenegro | 3 | 2 | 1 | 66.7 |
|
227 | 233 | -6 | 75.7 | 77.7 | 5 |
| 3 | Great Britain | 3 | 1 | 2 | 33.3 |
|
211 | 233 | -22 | 70.3 | 77.7 | 4 |
| 4 | Germany | 3 | 1 | 2 | 33.3 |
|
230 | 230 | 0 | 76.7 | 76.7 | 4 |
France had a fairly easy time getting past Great Britain with Amath M’Baye being in the rhythm for 24 points while Axel Bouteille scored 15 points. For Great Britain, Ashley Hamilton scored 12 and Dan Clark 11 points.
Justin Cobbs with 20 and Nikola Ivanovic with 18 points led Montenegro to a close win over Germany. Robin Benzing had 21 and Andreas Obst 17 points for the losing side.
Group H
Greece – Latvia 66-77
Bosnia and Herzegovina – Bulgaria 88-49
| GAMES | STREAK | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | Last 5 | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | Greece | 3 | 2 | 1 | 66.7 |
|
209 | 205 | 4 | 69.7 | 68.3 | 5 |
| 2 | BIH | 3 | 2 | 1 | 66.7 |
|
215 | 180 | 35 | 71.7 | 60 | 5 |
| 3 | Bulgaria | 3 | 1 | 2 | 33.3 |
|
222 | 265 | -43 | 74 | 88.3 | 4 |
| 4 | Latvia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 33.3 |
|
242 | 238 | 4 | 80.7 | 79.3 | 4 |
Emir Sulejmanovic logged a double-double with ten points and 11 boards while for Bulgaria, Demarquis Bost scored 13 points.Bosnia dominated Bulgaria from start to finish although there weren’t any breakthrough performances. Four players scored in double-digits with Kenan Kamenjas scoring 12 and John Daniel Roberson 11 points.
Martins Laksa logged 19 points to lead Latvia in a victorious effort against Greece while Mareks Mejeris scored 14 and Martins Meiers 13 points. On the other side, Dimitrios Agravanis scored 15 and Evangelos Margaritis ten points.
Photo Credit: FIBA