By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
As the February Qualifiers are approaching their last turn, two tickets remain available after this week’s action. The first will be decided Monday, in the showdown between Estonia and North Macedonia, while the second is up for grabs between Lithuania and Denmark, which will also face each other on Monday.
Russia dominated Estonia 75-52 to fulfill its February Qualifiers duties in great fashion. Evgeny Baburin paced Sergey Bazarevich’s squad with 14 points, Andrey Vorontsevich tapped 13 and Mikhail Kulagin had 12 points. Russia moved up to a 4-2 record in Group B and has already qualified for the 2022 EuroBasket.
Best 0.8 seconds of your day, guaranteed. ⏱️
POSTER OOP ??? ??? ???????! ? #EuroBasket pic.twitter.com/wVj3YeywNY
— FIBA EuroBasket (@EuroBasket) February 21, 2021
Janari Joesaar paced the Estonian side with 10 points, as the team will have to grab a victory against North Macedonia on Monday in order to qualify for the big event.
Group E action concluded as Finland grabbed a 78-70 win over Georgia, as both teams have punched their tickets for the EuroBasket next year. Elias Valtonen and Erik Murphy led the Finnish side with 14 points each, while Giorgi Shermandini and Duda Sanadze tapped 19 and 18 points respectively for Georgia.
? @EdonMaxhuni threads the needle for @Tolenci‘s strong finish ?@basketfinland ?? | #EuroBasket pic.twitter.com/hXC4pnuta3
— FIBA EuroBasket (@EuroBasket) February 21, 2021
North Macedonia defeated already qualified as hosts Italy 87-78 to grab their first victory in the qualifiers. Nenad Dimitrijevic led the winners with 22 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds and Andrej Magdevski had 20 points. Marco Spissu added 17 points and 8 assists for Italy which ends its qualifiers run with a 4-2 record.
?? keep their #EuroBasket 2022 hopes alive with their first win of the Qualifiers!
Nenad Dimitrijevikj locked and loaded for a terrific overall display against ??:
? 22 PTS 5 REB 7 AST | 19 EFF pic.twitter.com/tPIX8r0me1
— FIBA EuroBasket (@EuroBasket) February 21, 2021
Serbia got its revenge against Switzerland with an 88-81 win to top Group E with a 4-2 record. The Swiss side ends its qualifiers journey with a single win (against Serbia in the November windows). Filip Petrusev paced the winners with 22 points and 8 rebounds and Danilo Andjusic had 20 points. Dusan Mladjan led Switzerland with 18 points and 3 rebounds.
From his @KSSrbije ?? debut game, dominating straight into the second one! ?
20-year-old @PetrusevFilip in the #EuroBasket Qualifiers against ??:
? 22 PTS 8 REB 3 AST 2 STL | 27 EFF pic.twitter.com/vRpVWKLtnl
— FIBA EuroBasket (@EuroBasket) February 21, 2021
Spain broke off Isreal’s winning streak with a 78-73 win in Group A, as both teams have already qualified through earlier games. Dario Brizuela was the leading scorer for Sergio Scariolo’s squad with 18 points, Ferran Bassas had 12 points while Xabi Lopez-Arostegui and Fran Guerra posted 11 points each. Jake Cohen paced the Israeli side with 20 points and 8 rebounds.
⚡ @basquemamba leads @baloncestoesp ?? in scoring with 18 PTS as the Spaniards finish the #EuroBasket 2022 Qualifiers with a win! pic.twitter.com/KWA1Bu6m0E
— FIBA EuroBasket (@EuroBasket) February 21, 2021
Hungary edged Austria with an 81-58 victory to climb up in Group F’s standings behind Slovenia. Zoltan Perl paced the winners with 17 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds, Akos Keller posted 13 points and David Vojvoda tapped 12. Marvin Ogunsipe, Rasid Mahalbasic and Bogic Vujosevic all had 10 points for Austria.
Poland completed its Qualifiers duties with an 88-81 win over Romania, as the latter nation bids goodbye without a win. Michal Michalak led the way for the winners (that have already qualified for the 2022 EuroBasket) with 24 points and Jeremy Juliusz Sochan had 18 points. Mihai Maciuca had 16 points for the Romanian squad and Bobe Nicolescu added 15.
Sunday, February 21 results:
Group A
Spain – Israel 78-73
Poland – Romania 88-81
Group B
North Macedonia – Italy 87-78
Russia – Estonia 75-52
Group E
Serbia – Switzerland 88-81
Georgia – Finland 70-78
Standings:
Group A
12/12 games played
| GAMES | STREAK | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | Last 5 | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | Israel* | 6 | 5 | 1 | 83.3 |
|
487 | 442 | 45 | 81.2 | 73.7 | 11 |
| 2 | Spain* | 6 | 4 | 2 | 66.7 |
|
501 | 448 | 53 | 83.5 | 74.7 | 10 |
| 3 | Poland* | 6 | 3 | 3 | 50.0 |
|
490 | 453 | 37 | 81.7 | 75.5 | 9 |
| 4 | Romania | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
|
388 | 523 | -135 | 64.7 | 87.2 | 6 |
Group B
11/12 games played
| GAMES | STREAK | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | Last 5 | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | Italy* | 6 | 4 | 2 | 66.7 |
|
511 | 487 | 24 | 85.2 | 81.2 | 10 |
| 2 | Russia** | 6 | 4 | 2 | 66.7 |
|
460 | 405 | 55 | 76.7 | 67.5 | 10 |
| 3 | Estonia | 5 | 2 | 3 | 40.0 |
|
375 | 419 | -44 | 75 | 83.8 | 7 |
| 4 | North Macedonia | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20.0 |
|
387 | 422 | -35 | 77.4 | 84.4 | 6 |
Group E
12/12 games played
| GAMES | STREAK | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | Last 5 | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | Serbia* | 6 | 4 | 2 | 66.7 |
|
515 | 457 | 58 | 85.8 | 76.2 | 10 |
| 2 | Georgia** | 6 | 4 | 2 | 66.7 |
|
508 | 517 | -9 | 84.7 | 86.2 | 10 |
| 3 | Finland* | 6 | 3 | 3 | 50.0 |
|
448 | 464 | -16 | 74.7 | 77.3 | 9 |
| 4 | Switzerland | 6 | 1 | 5 | 16.7 |
|
493 | 526 | -33 | 82.2 | 87.7 | 7 |
Photo: EuroBasket