PARDUBICE (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - Tomas Satoransky hit a running floater with 5.8 seconds left to play as Czech Republic knocked off Russia 80-78 in a thriller which pulls the Czechs into a first-place tie in Group K of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers.

Satoransky scored 18 points while Jaromir Bohacik tallied a team-high 19 points with 5 three-pointers and Blake Schilb added 13 points for the Czechs, who are 6-1 in the group - even on record with France.  The win for the Czechs was all the more special as it came in front of a crowd of 8,500 spectators, the biggest crowd ever for a men's national team game.

Russia dropped to 3-4 in the group despite 18 points from Dmitry Khvostov while star Aleksei Shved had 16 points and 7 assists.

Turning point: The game went back and forth all night in Pardubice with 21 lead changes. And it was decided in the closing seconds as Satoransky pulled off the heroics.

Game hero: Satoransky not only hit the game winner but he also had 18 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists for the Czechs.

Stats don't lie: The Czechs absolutely dominated Russia on the boards, with a 44-21 advantage including 18 offensive rebounds for the home side. Russia nearly overcame that and stayed in the game thanks to committing just 5 turnovers.

Bottom line: Czech Republic took a big step towards reaching the World Cup for the first time with a 6-1 record, especially as the victory pushed Russia to 3-4 - one win behind 4-3 Finland and even with Bulgaria. Czech Republic face last-placed Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-5) on Sunday in Sarajevo while Russia will look to bounce back at home against Bulgaria.

They said: "We're very happy we could manage this victory. I think it was a very difficult game for us against a very good team with a very high basketball IQ. They had a good game. We didn't play our best but we managed to stay in the game even when we were 9 points down. Our fans were unbelievable. I think this is the best game I've had in front of the best crowd in the Czech Republic so this is something very special for us." - Czech Republic's Tomas Satoransky

"I think it's a great day for basketball in Czech Republic. It's a great win. It was a great atmosphere. We had ups and downs during the game. Every turnover we paid for on the other side. But in the end we showed character. We were -9 I think close to the end of the third quarter. We took a timeout and we came back out a different team. Satoransky, Jan (Vesely) were great and even Balvin played great but we had quiet heroes in this team like Vojtech (Hruban), (Pavel) Pumprla. He, today, changed the game because he took the mission to stop Shved and make his life difficult. We stopped all the tactics on Shved and were aggressive with him. It's a great job for all of our team. It's one step toward our mission." - Czech Republic's head coach Ronan Ginzburg

"Tough game for us. It seems like it was a fight today and we lost it especially in rebounding. We gave them rebounds too easily especially at the end. That is exactly why we lost the game." - Russia's Dmitrii Kulagin

"It's sad to lose such a game. That's how it goes with these windows. We worried about their fastbreak points and we didn't let them run but the rebounding hurt us. We knew we would have problems because some of our big guys weren't available for this window with injuries. But like Dimi said, in crucial moments, in one possession, we lost three (rebounds) and it was big. We still had a chance but this is the road game. So we have to continue and fight and regroup a little bit." - Russia head coach Sergey Bazarevich 

 FIBA