EuroBasket 2009 qualifying: FYROM, Israel & Bulgaria join the party
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 F.Y.R. of Macedonia, Israel and Bulgaria added their names to the list of teams headed to EuroBasket 2009 on Saturday, leaving out some old familiar faces like France and Italy, who will need to battle for the last remaining ticket at next summer's last chance qualifying event. Those three join Serbia, Latvia, Turkey and Great Britain, who advanced on Wednesday as well as host Polan and the six teams that took part in the Olympics – Spain, Russia, Lithuania, Greece, Germany and Croatia – plus Slovenia, which took part in the Pre-Olympic Qualifying tourney. On Saturday, FYROM won Group B when it bested Estonia 87-75 behind Zadar big man Todor Gecevski's 18 points and Portugal stunned Latvia 93-92. Israel crushed the Czech Republic 98-61 as Olympiacos’s Yotam Halperin recorded 25 points and 7 assists to clinch second place in Group D. That led to a ticket to EuroBasket when Turkey topped France 78-80 to finish the qualifying rounds as the only undefeated team.
 Serbia confirmed its status as the best in Group A by beating Bulgaria 77-87 to finish 7-1. Nenad Krstic of BC Triumph led the way for Serbia with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Milos Vujanic of Efes Pilsen hit back-to-back triples to spark a 2-12 first period run as Serbia took charge. The visitors continued to pull away and led 30-49 en route to an easy win. Vujanic and Zoran Erceg of Olympiacos added 11 points apiece for Serbia. Ibrahim Jaaber of Virtus Roma scored 27 to pace Bulgaria, which finished the campaign in second with a 4-4 record. Finland overcame Hungary 88-73 as Kimmo Muurinen, Shawn Huff of Marousi and Petteri Koponen all scored at least 20 points and Tuukka Kotti had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Finland finished 3-5, while Hungary, which got 22 from Tamas Kanan, dropped to 2-6. In Group B, Gecevski led five FYROM scorers in double figures with 18 in an 87-75 win over Estonia. The hosts ended the opening period on a 24-4 tear in which Real Madrid's Jeremiah Massey scored 7 to set the tone for the win. FYROM finished 4-2 and edged Latvia for first place on a tiebreaker when the Latvians fell 93-92 at Portugal on a Miguel Miranda three-pointer with six seconds remaining. Portugal improved to 3-3 and finished third in the group, while Estonia was last at 1-5. Jose Costa paced Portugal with 29 points and 7 assists.
 Turkey used a splendid team effort to spoil France’s EuroBasket hopes with a 78-80 win in Limoges. Tony Parker carried France with 37 points, 7 rebounds and 5 steals, but had little help from his teammates, while Turkey had four players with at least a dozen points. Fatih Solak put Turkey up by 7 with 2:19 remaining and France was unable to come all the way back. Yakhouba Diawara missed a potential go-ahead three for France with seven seconds left and BC Triumph's Kerem Tunceri got the rebound, drew a foul and put Turkey up 3 from the line. Solak led Turkey with 16, Sinan Guler of Efes Pilsen added 14 and Tunceri 13 for the winners. Belgium grabbed third place in Group C after beating Ukraine 58-76. Christophe Beghin posted 18 points and 11 rebounds for Belgium, which finished 2-4. Serhiy Lishchuk of BC Kyiv scored 21 for Ukraine. Israel barreled over the Czech Republic 98-61 thanks to 25 points and 7 assists from Halperin and 24 points and 6 assists from Bnei Hasharon's Meir Tapiro. Maccabi Electra forwards Lior Eliyahu and Yaniv Green combined for 30 points and 13 rebounds for Israel, which went 3-0 at home, but 0-3 on the road. Petr Benda of CEZ Nymburk scored 16 in defeat. Bosnia-Herzgovina topped Group D leader Great Britain 89-80 to secure third place. E.J. Bremer scored 18 and dished 6 assists for the winners. Andy Betts had 14 points and 8 rebounds to pace the Brits, who finished 4-2.
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Friday, September 19, 2008
Euroleague.net
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