By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Five players scored in double figures as France began the second stage of the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers by routing the Czech Republic in the newly refurbished Accor Arena, Paris, in front of 14.200.
Guerschon Yabusele scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds while Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot had 16 points as well for France. Rudy Gobert posted 14 points plus seven rebounds, Vincent Poirier finished with 10 points and seven boards while Elie Okobo scored 10.
Vojtech Hruban (14 points) and Ondrej Balvin (12 points, seven rebounds) stood out from a Czech side that was without injured star guard Tomas Satoransky. Their team was actually leading 38 – 42 at halftime but everything turned upside down after the break.
Following a game interruption of around 15 minutes due to a malfunction on one of the basket boards after a dunk by Gobert, France dominated to go up 66 – 40 at the end of the third quarter. Les Bleus never looked back and turned the whole affair into a rout.
Spain was superior from start to finish end made short work of Iceland 87 – 57. Willy Hernangomez delivered 19 points plus eight rebounds, Jaime Pradilla had 14 points and six boards while Rudy Fernandez dropped 13 points for the winning side.
Elvar Fridriksson led Iceland with 14 points.
Jonas Valanciunas took over down the stretch as Lithuania overcame Hungary 88 – 78 thanks to a 2 – 11 late run. The New Orleans Pelicans big man completed the game with 17 points plus eight rebounds while Domantas Sabonis had 17 points as well.
Hungary came some minutes close to a major upset but couldn’t finish the job. Adam Hanga scored 21 points.
Georgia beat the Netherlands 77 – 66 but lost star Tornike Shengelia to injury. The national team’s captain will stay out for up to three months and miss the upcoming EuroBasket.
Ιn the rest of the games played on the 24th of August, Italy beat Ukraine on the road (97-89) with Simone Fontecchio scoring 20 points and Nicolo Melli adding 17, while Montenegro prevailed over Bosnia 88-69.
Vladimir Mihailovic scored 20 for the winning side, which doesn’t have Bulls center Nikola Vucevic available. On the contrary, despite 13 points by Jusuf Nurkic, 19 by Dzanan Musa and 20 by naturalized guard John Roberson, Bosnia couldn’t do much.
Standings
Group K
| GAMES | STREAK | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | Last 5 | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 |  France |
7 | 6 | 1 | 85.7 |
|
559 | 403 | 156 | 79.9 | 57.6 | 13 |
| 2 |  Lithuania |
7 | 6 | 1 | 85.7 |
|
550 | 499 | 51 | 78.6 | 71.3 | 13 |
| 3 |  Montenegro |
7 | 5 | 2 | 71.4 |
|
552 | 497 | 55 | 78.9 | 71 | 12 |
| 4 |  Czech Republic |
7 | 3 | 4 | 42.9 |
|
545 | 578 | -33 | 77.9 | 82.6 | 10 |
| 5 |  BIH |
7 | 3 | 4 | 42.9 |
|
541 | 574 | -33 | 77.3 | 82 | 10 |
| 6 |  Hungary |
7 | 3 | 4 | 42.9 |
|
477 | 557 | -80 | 68.1 | 79.6 | 10 |
Group L
| GAMES | STREAK | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | Last 5 | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 |  Italy |
5 | 4 | 1 | 80.0 |
|
464 | 437 | 27 | 92.8 | 87.4 | 9 |
| 2 |  Georgia* |
5 | 3 | 2 | 60.0 |
|
374 | 393 | -19 | 74.8 | 78.6 | 8 |
| 3 |  Spain* |
4 | 3 | 1 | 75.0 |
|
330 | 293 | 37 | 82.5 | 73.2 | 7 |
| 4 |  Iceland |
4 | 3 | 1 | 75.0 |
|
340 | 343 | -3 | 85 | 85.8 | 7 |
| 5 |  Ukraine* |
5 | 1 | 4 | 20.0 |
|
401 | 416 | -15 | 80.2 | 83.2 | 6 |
| 6 |  Netherlands |
5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
|
363 | 390 | -27 | 72.6 | 78 | 5 |
Photo: FIBA Basketball