The final round of the Eurobasket 2017 qualifiers turned out to be a headache for the mathematicians amongst us, but the four second placed teams have been decided and the line-up for next year’s event in Israel, Romania, Finland and Turkey have been set.
(Click for more on the four best second placed teams from the Eurobasket 2017 Qualifying Round)
GROUP A
Iceland beat Belgium 74-68 in their final Group A to finish second in the group. Despite the loss, Belgium’s position of group winners was already determined despite the defeat.
Martin Hermannsson led Iceland with 18 points as they recovered from an early first quarter deficit to narrow the gap at the half before pulling clear in the second half.
Cyprus comfortably defeated Switzerland 92-78 to ensure that the Swiss finished bottom of the group. In the end, the game mattered not towards the standings as both sides failed to qualify.
GROUP B
Germany dominated Netherlands 82-51 in their final qualifying game to finish top of the group and with the sizeable loss, it meant that the Dutch’s points differential fell just outside the top four best second placed teams.
Johannes Voigtmann paced Germany with 15 points. Charlene Aloof’s game-high 18 proved not to be enough.
The other Group B game saw Denmark end on a high with a convincing 86-72 win over Austria. Both teams though failed to qualify but for the Danes, they have secured two wins in the pool, something that most thought unlikely when the qualifiers began.
GROUP C
Russia finished Group C unbeaten with a narrow 63-59 victory over Sweden in Krasnodar. The result also means that the Swedes conclude their qualifiers with a victory in four losing efforts.
Sergey Bykov led the victorious Russians with 15 points as they overcame an early 18-12 first quarter deficit by holding Sweden to just eight points in the third period to build up a 51-41 lead heading into the fourth and from there, Sweden were unable to pose a serious threat.
Ludwig Hakanson had 15 points for Sweden.
GROUP D
Poland secured their spot as Group D winners after hammering Estonia 94-63 in Tartu.
The result also means that due to the margin of defeat, Estonia will miss out on next summer’s Eurobasket due to being outside the top four.
The other game in the group had little meaning but Portugal finally secured their first win of the qualifiers with a comfortable 77-62 success over Belarus.
GROUP E
Slovenia ended their Eurobasket qualifying campaign with an 80-69 win over Ukraine in Kiev. Despite the loss, Ukraine qualified as one of the four best second placed teams.
Goran Dragic paced the victors with 22 points and five assists.
The result in Kiev meant that Bulgaria finished in third place after they ended Kosovo’s maiden Eurobasket qualifying voyage with a narrow 67-62 win.
GROUP F
Georgia qualified for Eurobasket and at the same time finished top of Group F after beating Montenegro 90-84 in the final game played throughout Europe.
Montenegro’s qualification had already been secured and even with the defeat are the best of the top four second placed teams.
Zaza Pachulia had a monster game of 22 points and 13 rebounds for Georgia.
The other game in the group saw Albania pick up its first win of the qualifiers by beating the Slovak Republic 72-65 but both teams knew their fate by round four.
GROUP G
The shock of the qualifiers saw Luxembourg use a strong fourth quarter to overcome Great Britain 82-75 in front of an ecstatic home support inside d’Coque in Luxembourg City and claim their first win since 1998.
Despite the defeat, the night turned out to be win-win for both sides as other results around the qualifers meant that GB advanced as one of the four best second placed teams.
Tom Schmaucher led Luxembourg with a game-high 20 points.
In a dead rubber contest, Hungary, whose qualification was confirmed on Wednesday edged already eliminated FYR of Macedonia 63-61. The win sees Hungary unbeaten in all six games played.
Photo: Mansoor Ahmed
