EuroBasket 2009 qualifying: Four teams in
Four teams qualified for the EuroBasket 2009 tournament to be held in Poland on Wednesday with wins in their respective qualifying groups. Serbia, Latvia, Turkey and Great Britain all took care of business, while Bulgaria, F.Y.R. of Macedonia and France can join them with wins on Saturday. Italy, Portugal, Israel, the Czech Republic and Bosnia-Herzegovina all still have chances to sneak in, but will need other results to go their way. Serbia wrapped up first place in Group A and avenged its only loss by crushing Finland 92-66. Olympiacos big man Zoran Erceg led the charge with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Latvia used a late 8-0 spurt to KO Estonia 72-67. Turkey clinched the top spot in Group C by besting Belgium 80-64 at home in Istanbul. FC Barcelona forward Ersan Ilyasova recorded 22 points and 8 rebounds as Turkey remained the lone undefeated squad in the qualifying. And in Group D, Great Britain won its fourth straight game, a 63-67 victory at the Czech Republic, becoming the first team in the group to win on the road.

Serbia wrapped up first place in Group A and avenged its only loss by crushing Finland 92-66. Olympiacos big man Zoran Erceg led the charge with 21 points and 7 rebounds, Uros Tripkovic sniped in 13 and BC Triumph's Nenad Krstic added 12 for the winners, who improved to 6-1. Serbia put the game away with a 21-1 second-period surge that led to a 46-28 halftime lead, after which the hosts coasted the rest of the way. Jukka Matinen scored 12 for the visitors from Finland, who fell to 2-5. Meanwhile Fortitudo big man Alessandro Cittadini's free throw with 12 seconds remaining lifted Italy over Bulgaria 82-81. The win sees Italy finish the qualifying stage with a 4-4 record, while Bulgaria drops to 4-3. Giuseppe Poeta paced Italy with 21 points, Armani Jeans Milano’s Marco Mordente added 17 and Valerio Amoroso had 15 for the winner. Todor Stoykov led Bulgaria with 19 points and Kaloyan Ivanov added 14.

In Group B, Latvia punched its ticket to the EuroBasket by downing Estonia 72-67 in a game that went to the wire. Tartu Rock winger Gert Kullamae hit back-to-back triples in a fourth-quarter charge to get back in a game that Latvia seemed to be a full control of. Janar Talts's free throws gave Estonia a 64-65 lead with 2:48 on the clock, but Latvia scored the next 8 points – half of them by Kristaps Janicenoks – to pull away and seal the win. Andris Biedrins scored 16, Kaspars Berzins added 13 and Bilbao Basket guard Janis Blums had 10 for the winners. Kristjan Kangur led Estonia with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Portugal provided the biggest surprise of the day by downing FYROM 81-71. Joao Costa scored 19 and dished 5 assists to lead five Portuguese scorers in double figures and Carlos Andrade posted a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds for Portugal, which improved to 2-3. Real Madrid forward Jeremiah Massey's 20 points and 16 from Union Olimpija’s Vlado Ilievski weren’t enough for FYROM, which now sits at 3-2.

Turkey clinched the top spot in Group C by besting Belgium 80-64 at home in Istanbul. FC Barcelona forward Ersan Ilyasova recorded 22 points and 8 rebounds as Turkey remained undefeated through five games. The hosts led just 42-38 at halftime, but Ilyasova had a pair of baskets in an 11-0 third-quarter run that gave Turkey a comfortable 60-44 lead, which it never relinquished. Fenerbahce Ulker center Oguz Savas added 13 points and Hedu Turkoglu netted 12 for the winners. Roel Moors scored 14 and dished 5 assists for Belgium, which fell to 1-4. France held off Ukraine 87-83 to keep its EuroBasket hopes intact. Tony Parker scored 25 and had 4 steals for the French, who improved to 3-2. Ukraine trimmed the gap to a single point three times in the final five minutes, but Cholet's Nando De Colo and Tony Parker rescued France when it mattered most. Andriy Agafonov scored 22 for Ukraine, which fell to 1-4.

Great Britain won its fourth straight Group D game to clinch a spot at EuroBasket 2009. The Brits beat the Czech Republic 63-67, becoming the first team in the group to win on the road. Great Britain improved to 4-1, while the Czechs fell to 2-3 – the same record as the other two Group D sides, Israel and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The visitors scored the last 7 points of the game and held the Czechs scoreless for the final two-and-a-half minutes to earn the win. Luol Deng led the way with 21 points, Nate Reinking added 20 and DKV Joventut big man Pops Mensah-Bonsu recorded 9 points and 12 rebounds. Unicaja's Jiri Welsch carried the Czech Republic with 28 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Israel rode huge nights from Lior Eliyahu, Yotam Halperin and Meir Tapiro to outlast Bosnia 88-74. Maccabi Electra's Eliyahu exploded for 21 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocked shots to help Israel snap a three-game slide. Halperin of Olympiacos recorded 22 points and 5 assists and Bnei Hasharon’s Tapiro netted 19 and dished 4 assists for the blue-and-white, who outscored Bosnia 48-29 in the second half. Goran Ikonic led Bosnia with 17 and BC Kyiv's Kenan Bajramovic added 13.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Euroleague.net