The road to Eurobasket 2017 has of finally begun with the first round of qualifiers beginning another action packed two weeks of international basketball.
The Rio 2016 hangover cure is here.
GROUP A
A strong second quarter helped Belgium to a comfortable 65-46 win over Cyprus.
A narrow 16-11 lead after the first ballooned to a 36-20 lead at the half as the Lions had no difficulty. Maxime De Zeeuw was the winner’s top performer with 12 points plus six assists.
Iceland, looking to maintain their growing status in the international basketball arena began their Eurobasket 2017 qualifying campaign with an 88-72 win over Switzerland in Reykjavik.
Hordur Vilhjalmsson led Iceland with an efficient 16 points and eight assists.
GROUP B
Germany started strongly and ultimately eased to a 101-74 victory over Denmark to get their campaign underway on a positive note.
Paul Zipser and youngster Maodo Lô each had 17 points to pace the Germans.
Rašid Mahalbašić helped Austria to a surprise 75-72 road win over the Netherlands.
Mahalbašić led the joyous Austrians with 15 points as they came back from an early first quarter deficit to breeze clear in the second and miraculously hold on for victory.
GROUP C
A strong second half helped Russia to an eventually easy 83-54 win over Bosnia & Herzegovina in their qualifying opener.
With the visiting Bosnians, without Mirza Teletovic only ahead 35-34 at the break, things were nicely poised until Russia stormed out of the blocks in the third, holding a shellshocked Bosnia outfit to just ten points, while the hosts poured in 27 of their own and as the fourth quarter began, the lead only grew further.
Dmitriy Kulagin paced Russia with 17 points.
GROUP D
Estonia began their Eurobasket 2017 qualifying journey with a routine 81-62 win over Belarus in Tallinn.
The game was over as a contest by half-time and the Estonians, who similar to Iceland are looking to retain their status as a main European basketball nation only increased their lead in the third quarter before finally stepping off the gas in the fourth.
Estonia’s Rain Veideman exploded for 32 points.
The other Group D encounter saw Poland make light work of Portugal 83-57 in Wloclawek. Mateusz Ponitka scored 14 points to lead the Poles to an opening day win.
GROUP E
Kosovo were welcomed to the international basketball world by Slovenia and they popped their cherry in Ljubljana with a 113-68 drubbing at the Stozice Arena.
The Slovenians showed no mercy on the international new boys, charging into a 33-19 lead and never looking back. Goran Dragic led the winners with a solid 22 points and eight assists.
Ukraine had a more difficult first encounter, but like Slovenia, they also came out on top, beating Bulgaria 79-69 in Kiev.
Kyrylo Fesenko dominated inside as he posted 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Ukrainians and he was supported by Oleksandr Lypovyy who hit 12 points and dished out 10 assists.
GROUP F
Montenegro began their campaign with a straightforward 97-65 rout of the Slovak Republic in the capital Podgorica.
Vladimir Dasic was one rebound shy of a double-double as he amassed 17 points and nine rebounds for the Montenegrins as they pulled clear in the first quarter, taking a 22-13 cushion and never looking back.
Georgia also pulled away comfortably in the first quarter, leading minnows Albania 21-9 en route to an 86-47 win.
Viktor Sanikidze led Georgia with 20 points and seven rebounds.
GROUP G
Hungary hit 13 three-pointers in a comfortable 96-77 win over Great Britain, who handed former NBA guard Ben Gordon his first competitive game for the Brits.
But Gordon went 0/8 from the field with opposite number Adam Hanga hitting a rather easy game-high 32 points for the hosts.
FYR of Macedonia shared the minutes around and were still able to secure an 89-75 win over minnows Luxembourg.
Vojdan Stojanovski finished the game with 28 points for the Macedonians.
