It was another busy night in the second qualifying round for EuroBasket 2015, with Russia dropping their second straight while Germany and the Czech Republic bounced back.
In case you need a re-cap on what the teams involved need to do to qualify, the seven group winners progress to EuroBasket 2015 along with the top six second-placed teams from the seven qualifying groups.
As reported earlier on BiE, Bosnia and Herzegovina won their opening game in Group A 80-67 against Great Britain in London, on the back of 25 points from Mirza Teletovic of the Brooklyn Nets. The defeat leaves Team GB at 0-2 and in need of help to stay in the competition. Bosnia will host Iceland on Sunday.
Group B saw Bulgaria push Montenegro to overtime before eventually succumbing in overtime 70-64. The win, a second in OT in as many games, leaves Montenegro top of the group at 2-0. Israel bounced back from their loss to the group leaders with a 66-57 win over the Netherlands in Groningen. Guy Pnini was top scorer for Israel with 16 while Omri Casspi, most recently waived by the New Orleans Pelicans, had 9 points and 8 rebounds. That result leaves both sides on 1-1, with Israel holding second on tie-breakers.
In Group C, there were convincing wins for Germany and Poland. Fresh off a narrow loss to Poland on Sunday, Germany left no doubt as they beat Austria 77-64 in Schwechat. Max Kleber scored 20 points and picked up 7 boards and 2 blocks for the victors with Dennis Schroeder of the Atlanta Hawks scoring 13 points. Poland meanwhile enjoyed a resounding 113-66 road win at Luxembourg, with 7 Polish players scoring in double digits. Poland top the group at 2-0, with Germany edging Austria for second on tie-breakers at 1-1.
Belgium bounced back in Group D with a vital 71-57 win over Belarus in Charleroi. FYR Macedonia remain unbeaten in the group following their 81-75 win over Denmark in Horsens.
The absence of Jan Vesely had no impact on the result in Nymburk as Czech Republic trounced Portugal 89-53 in Group E. Hungary held firm in the clash of unbeaten sides in Kecskemet. Despite 19 points and 6 boards from Zaza Pachulia of the Milwaukee Bucks, Georgia were unable to pull off the road win as they fell 74-73.
Latvia and Romania both remained perfect in Group F. Latvia enjoyed a comfortable 86-66 win over Slovakia in Riga while Romaniabeat Sweden 77-72 in Sibiu,
Finally in Group G where the big news off the day came away from the court with confirmation that Clint Capela will miss the rest of Switzerland’s qualifying campaign. The Swiss topped Russia on Sunday and it was another bad night for the bronze medal winners at London 2012 tonight. Alessandro Gentile, who was drafted by the Timberwolves in June but plies his trade with Olimpia Milano, scored 20 points as Italy pulled off a 65-63 win in Moscow. Timofey Mozgov of the Denver Nuggets had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Russia. Italy host Switzerland on Sunday before Russia take on the Swiss in a crucial reverse fixture next Wednesday.
Leave a Reply