A full round-up of round five of the Eurobasket qualifiers. Even though Group A is the only set that has played five rounds of games.
Group A
Montenegro have maintained their 100 percent record in Group A with a 94-81 win over the Slovak Republic, who remain without a win in five games played.
Suad Sehovic led the charge with 16 points for Montenegro while Bojan Dubljevic grabbed a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds. Anton Gavel led all scorers in vain with 23 for the Slovakians.
Israel have moved up to second after they defeated Serbia 89-76, improving them to 3-2. The Serbs have the same record and are in fourth.
Estonia have also improved to 3-2 as they claimed an 86-67 win in Iceland. Kristjan Kangur led the winners with 27 points as his side out-rebounded Iceland 49-33.
Group B
Germany continue their expected dominance of Group B with an 85-68 away win against Azerbaijan who, after a promising start, slump to 2-2.
This win gives the Germans a 4-0 record as Lucca Staiger led the winners with 18 points. Robin Benzing added 15 points and 13 rebounds. Azerbaijan were led by 31 points from the impressive Charles Davis.
“We needed to play like a team tonight,” Germany coach Svetislav Pesic said. “Our defence was key for us. We did not want to give Azerbaijan’s talented offence any confidence.”
Sweden join Azerbaijan on a 2-2 record after they swept aside Luxembourg 111-74 in the group’s other game.
Group C
Croatia find themsleves top of Group C on a 4-0 record following a 82-75 road success against Austria.
Bojan Bogdanovic led the Croats with 19 points who had a scare in the fourth quarter when the game was tied at 66-66 with just over six minutes left. A bucket though from Roko-Leni Ukic began an 11-0 run which ended the game.
Rasid Mahalbasic led the Austrians with 21 points.
Hungary move above Austria into third after they beat bottom side Cyprus 77-64 in a less than convincing display. Peter Lorant led all scorers with 25 for Hungary.
Group D
Netherlands upset Georgia 91-88 in Almere to collect their first win of the qualifying round at the fourth time of asking.
Georgia miss the chance to leapfrog Bosnia & Herzegovina into top spot after this loss, their first of the campaign. David Jensen hit 24 points for the Dutch while Zaza Pachulia hit 23 for the Georgians
“A big win for us. We are working so hard and this is the result of that,” Netherlands coach Jan Willem Jansen said.
Latvia picked up their second win of the group by topping Romania 89-53. The Latvians are now third with a 2-2 record, as Romania fall to 1-3 and bottom.
Group E
Finland are 4-0 and sitting pretty at the top of Group E after thrashing Switzerland 89-60. A dominating first three quarters where Finland showed a great deal of aggression on defence, forcing the Swiss into 26 turnovers.
Hanno Mottola led Finland with 17 points.
Belgium remain second following a crushing 97-59 success on lowly Albania. Poland enjoyed a night off and are in third spot.
Group F
Czech Republic secured a vital 82-64 win over a woeful Turkey side that are now 2-2 in Group F while the Czechs improve to 3-1 and second spot, behind runaway leaders Italy.
Tomas Saoransky led the victors with 16 points and also pulled down six rebounds. Semih Erden and Kerem Gonlum had 13 each for the Turks.
Belarus picked up their first win of the qualifiers after a 82-75 success over winless Portugal.
