MINSK (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - After pushing Spain to the brink of an upset on Friday, Belarus gave the home crowd in Minsk a reason to celebrate with a 93-92 triumph over reigning FIBA EuroBasket 2017 champions Slovenia on Monday.

Turning point: Despite falling behind 87-80 halfway through the final period, the Aliaksandr Krutsikau-coached Belarus side never stopped believing and roared back into the game with a last-ditch comeback effort. Slovenia still had a chance to tie the game after Vitaly Liutych's go-ahead bucket with 15 seconds remaining, but Klemen Prepelic converted just one-of-two attempts at the free-throw line.

Game hero: There was no stopping Devon Saddler tonight, with the naturalized point guard leading the way for Belarus with 25 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds. He did commit an unusually high number of turnovers (7), but one could not fault him for lack of efficiency, considering he shot 11-of-18 from the field.

Stats don't lie: Belarus dominated the glass against the Slovenian frontcourt, winning the rebounding battle 46-28 and benefiting from 52 points in the paint, compared to just 32 scored by Slovenia.

Bottom line: A win would have allowed Slovenia to book a place in the Second Round of the Qualifiers ahead of the June/July window, but now the reigning champions of Europe will have to wait for the summer to get the job done.

They said: "Thank you to all the fans because the crowd was amazing and it really helped us. This energy they give us it's crazy. It's a very emotional win. To win by one point after the game against Spain. Two very close games, one we lose and we learned from our mistakes and we won a very important game for us." - Belarus forward Maksim Salash.

"I would like to congratulate the Belarusian team for the win. They played a good game. I think we were just not good enough today. We were not concentrated. We did not have this spirit that we had previously so I think they deserved to win. We need to look each other in the mirror and to get something out of this loss." - Slovenia forward Sasa Zagorac.

FIBA