SARAJEVO (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - Bosnia and Herzegovina received a huge boost from the crowd, with a packed Mirza Delibasic Hall on its feet spurring the hosts to a 72-70 comeback win over Belgium in Group E action on Friday.

The home side erased a 7-point deficit in the last couple of minutes and triumphed after Nemanja Gordic knocked down a pair of victory-clinching free-throws with 3.3 seconds on the clock. Although Jonathan Tabu did make a three-point shot on the next possession, it was ruled to have come after the buzzer.

Turning point: The hosts found themselves down 66-59 with 2:52 remaining in the fourth quarter after Retin Obasohan threw down a dunk on the break, but Bosnia and Herzegovina never gave up and worked their way back into the game, outscoring the visitors 13-4 the rest of the way.

Game hero: Team captain Gordic fueled the home side with a team-high 17 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals and a block. He was also the main contributor in the fourth-quarter turnaround, scoring 7 points in the final 120 seconds of action.

Stats don't lie: The quartet of Gordic, Dzanan Musa, Andrija Stipanovic and Miralem Halilovic combined for 59 of the team's total 72 points for Bosnia and Herzegovina with no other player eclipsing the 5-point mark.

Bottom line: Bosnia and Herzegovina will be quite satisfied with a 2-1 mark in the tough Group E midway through the first phase of the European Qualifiers, while Belgium might consider themselves unlucky to be 0-3, given the nature of their defeats.

They said: "I think we prepared well. We had a perfect week here in Sarajevo. We played perfect for 38 minutes and after that, I think, the fans took over. They were amazing. The rest we'll analyze with the staff – what we did wrong, what mistakes we made. That's important for the next game." – Belgium head coach Eddy Casteels.

"Tonight's game was very, very important for both teams. I have a lot of respect for the Belgian team. This is a team that played very well in the FIBA EuroBasket 2017. When they drew the groups for the Qualifiers, including France, Russia, Belgium and Bosnia and Herzegovina, they said this is the toughest group we could have had. We played very well in the first half, but we made a lot of mistakes in the second half, one after another. At one point, the game was almost lost for us, but Gordic and Musa went on a run. I want to say thank you to the fans who came to support us today." – Bosnia and Herzegovina head coach Dusko Vujosevic.

FIBA