Six places in Lille were up for grabs on the final game day of the group stages at Eurobasket 2015. Nations will be left joyous, the others will be heartbroken.
Group A
The teams in Group A all knew their fate so placings were the order of the day in Montpellier. Poland finished above Finland in third after they beat the Nordic nation 78-65.
In a close encounter, Poland went on a 7-0 run late in the third quarter, which finally knocked Finland off track after they had earlier recovered a deficit in the second period. And with Erik Taylor fouling out, we saw Poland eventually pull as much as 13 clear.
Adam Waczynski had a team-high 17 points for Poland.
Russia claimed their first win of Eurobasket in their final game as they beat Bosnia & Herzegovina in a game to determine who would finish last in the group.
Andrey Zubkov paced the Russians with 17 points.
France finished top of Group A with an unblemished record after they beat Israel 86-61 in the final game.
Rudy Gobert posted a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds in a game that went through the motions. Israel rested Lior Eliyahu, Gal Mekel and Omri Casspi whereas France’s Tony Parker did not register a point, going 0/5 from the field.
Group B
Serbia finished top of Group B with a 5-0 record after beating Italy 101-82 in Berlin.
Milos Teodosic recorded a sublime 26 points and eight assists to lead Serbia to victory.
It was heartbreak for co-hosts Germany as they lost 77-76 to Spain who went through as a result.
Despite posting 26 points, Dennis Schröder missed a free-throw with three seconds on the clock to leave Spain free to celebrate a big win.
Sergio Rodriguez led Spain with 19.
Turkey outgunned Iceland 111-102 after a session of overtime as they wrapped up Group B.
Bobby Dixon (Ali Muhammed) posted a game-high 28 points and also pulled down 12 boards to guide Turkey to the win and leave Iceland with five losses from five games, but a lot of memories.
Group C
Slovenia confirmed their place into the second round by beating FYR of Macedonia 62-51 in Zagreb.
That loss eliminated the Macedonians, as Zoran Dragic put on an offensive show with 20 points for the Slovenes.
After losing their first three games, Georgia booked their spot for Lille by stunning the already qualified co-hosts Croatia 71-58.
Six Georgians registered into double figures, led by 12 points from Zaza Pachulia, Duda Sanadze and Viktor Sanikidze.
Netherlands could have spoiled the party for the Georgians if they had beaten undefeated Greece, but they were unable to do so the Greeks prevailed in the final game of the group 68-65.
With Vassilis Spanoulis rested, Giannis Antetokounmpo took centre stage, as he collected 11 points, 11 rebounds and three assists in the victory.
Group D
Belgium booked their spot for Lille with a 79-71 win over Ukraine in Riga, which eliminated the Ukrainians.
Belgium trailed by as many as 14 points during the first half but were unrecognisable after the break as they improved all over the floor. They moved in front in the third quarter before firing in three three-pointers in the opening three minutes of the final period to open up a 70-56 gap.
Pierre-Antoine Gillet came off the bench to lead the Lions with 15 points.
Hosts Latvia advanced to the next round as they defeated Estonia 75-64 in game number two.
Janis Strelnieks had 21 points for the Latvians as they came back from an early 16-point deficit to grab the win.
Lithuania finished top of the pile in Riga after they defeated Czech Republic 85-81.
Tomás Satoransky – who equalled the all-time record for assists in a Eurobasket final round game at 13 – looked set to add his second-game winner in as many days as he drove to the basket with the scores tied and less than 10 seconds remaining.
But Jonas Valanciunas appeared from the weak side to swat the shot away leaving the Czechs without enough time to create a good enough look. Lithuania then made it clear from the early stages of overtime that there was only going to be one winner.
Mandaugas Kuzminskas paced the Lithuanians with 18.
