Georgia, Great Britain, Iceland and Ukraine have qualified for Eurobasket 2017 as the four best runners up from the seven groups following the final round of qualifiers.
Montenegro secured qualification before the final round. Georgia, who were second before the final round of games, had a far more superior points difference and were all but guaranteed a spot.
Great Britain’s route came by virtue of Slovenia beating Ukraine 80-69, Germany thrashing Netherlands 81-52 and Denmark being unable to beat Austria by 21 points. They have advanced to Eurobasket for the first time since 2013 after missing out in 2015.
Despite qualification, GB suffered a shocking defeat as Luxembourg defeated them 82-75 for their first win since 1998.
“It’s been a long road to qualify for Eurobasket, the most important thing,” Great Britain captain Kieron Achara said. “I’m very proud of the guys for doing that, we played hard and did what we needed to do.”
Iceland’s 74-68 win over Group A winners Belgium was enough to seal their qualification with a +24 points difference.
Ukraine lost their final game 80-69 to group winners Slovenia, but, like Georgia were all but confirmed as their points differential was too great for anyone else to overcome.
SECOND PLACED TEAMS TABLE
Montenegro 3-1 (+65)
Iceland 3-1 (+24)
GB 2-2 (+17)
Ukraine 2-2 (-3)
———————
Netherlands 2-2 (-16)
Bosnia 2-2 (-35)
Estonia 1-3 (-42)
[Note: Games against the fourth placed teams do not count towards overall record]
