HELSINKI (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) – Lauri Markkanen and Sasu Salin aced Finland's home test, as the Wolf Pack secured a ticket to the Second Round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers with a 91-77 victory in a decisive Nordic derby against Iceland in Helsinki.

An impressive turnout of 12,183 at the Helsinki Arena set a new attendance record for European Qualifiers, as the howling Finns rode the energy from the stands to improve to a 3-3 mark in the tightly-contested Group F standings.

Turning point: Finland did not trail by more than a single point throughout the game, but had Iceland breathing down their necks for most of the encounter. Up 61-55 with 2:39 left in the third stanza, the Wolf Pack increased the separation to double figures with an 8-3 spurt and held their cool for the rest of the game.

Game hero: Lauri Markkanen had his fingerprints all over Finland's victory, scoring 28 points, grabbing 7 rebounds, dishing out 3 assists and coming up with 2 steals and a block in 34 minutes of action. His statistics could have been even more impressive, had he not gone just 6-of-11 from the free-throw line.

Stats don't lie: The big difference in three-point shooting was the biggest difference in the game. Finland connected on 12-of-30 attempts from deep, while Iceland struggled and hit just 7-of-27.

Bottom line: The outcome in the Nordic derby did not only put Finland through to the next phase of the competition and knocked out Iceland from the Qualifiers, but opened the Second Round door for Bulgaria, who progressed despite their 81-75 defeat against Group F leaders Czech Republic.

They said: "It was a tough 40 minutes, both teams played hard. During the game, we learned how they play and did a better job in the second half reading what they want to do on defense and offense. That was the key of the game tonight." – Finland player Petteri Koponen

"Iceland are a very tough team to play against. They are tough, they are smart, they play hard. You could see that we had a hard time finding our rhythm. We grew during the game, we started to find out how we can get shots and good stops. I was really proud of the guys." – Finland head coach Henrik Dettmann 

"This was a tough, tough one. We started off kind of slow. They started hitting shots; we were missing open ones. I think we were kind of overexciting. We did a great job in the second half coming back. We are young now and we probably need some more time to get back at it. I'm proud of the guys." – Iceland player Haukur Palsson 

FIBA