By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Denmark pulled the upset against Georgia to open the road to EuroBasket 2025, dragged by Iffe Lundberg against his teammate Toko Shengelia. This time, being recovered after getting a 17-point lead, the Danish national team lost 89-85 to Finland.
On the home side, coached by Iffe Lundberg’s club assistant coach Lassi Tuovi, Paris Basketball’s own Mikael Jantunen provided a huge 19-point winning effort with 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Alexander Madsen followed with 15 points, while Edon Maxhuni also did his best in making Finland recover with 14 points and 5 assists.
Virtus Bologna’s guard was the main reason why the red-and-white side almost escaped with a victory from Scandinavia, dropping 26 points (9/18 FG, 5/9 from three), 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. Kevin Larsen joined him with 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists, while the 22-year-old Bakary Dibba ended with 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists, shooting perfectly from the field at 4/5.
The Danish national team reached a 17-point lead towards the end of the second quarter (58-41). However, Finland made a huge effort in the third quarter with a 10-0 run to come back into the game, eventually leading 74-72.
Denmark seemed to have taken the game once again in control by getting up 82-76, but Lassi Tuovi’s team entered a 13-2 run to eventually find the victory at home at the Espoo Metro Arena.
After losing 77-61 to Serbia in the first game of this FIBA window in February, Finland – which is already qualified as co-host alongside Latvia, Poland, and Cyprus – is now tied with Denmark at 1-1, waiting for the other clash in Group G between Georgia and Serbia.
PHOTO CREDIT: 2025 FIBA EuroBasket Qualifiers