HELSINKI (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - Blake Schilb unleashed a barrage of five three-pointers in the fourth quarter as Czech Republic stole a 64-56 victory over Finland on the road for their second win in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers.

After winning their Group F opener against Iceland, the Czechs improved to 2-0 thanks to Schilb, who was dormant for the first 30 minutes. Finland dropped to 1-1 in the group as they lost the game in front of their home fans at the Helsinki Ice Stadium. 

Turning point: The game looked like it would be a dogfight going down to the final minute until Schilb got hot - as in red-hot. With the game knotted at 40-40, he nailed all five of his three-point attempts for 15 points in a 21-9 Czech Republic surge to decide the game - 61-49 with 2 minutes left. 

Game hero: Before hitting five three-pointers in a span of 4:48 minutes, Schilb had scored just two points and was a non-factor. He ended with a game-high 17 points. It must be said however that big man Ondrej Balvin kept the Czechs in the game throughout in finishing with eight points, 17 rebounds and seven assists.

Stats don't lie: To show just how crucial that Schilb explosion was, the Czech Republic made 7/28 three-pointers in the game. Take out that fourth quarter showing and they are 2/23. The Czechs did do a good job defending Finland, holding them to less than 32 percent shooting from the field. 

Game notes: The Czechs jumped ahead 19-7 in the first quarter but watched as the Finns used a 15-0 run to pull ahead 22-19. Finland led by as many as seven points - 32-25 - in the third quarter. But the game was even 38-38 after 30 minutes. 

They said it: "It's a great win for us to win here in Finland. It puts us in a good position in the group. Both teams missed players so we played with a lot of inexperienced players and it showed - especially in the first half. The first quarter for their side, the second quarter for our side. We changed something for the last quarter and we did it great and we won this game. The fourth quarter is the only quarter that we scored a good amount of points. I am very happy and satisfied with this win." - Czech Republic head coach Ronen Ginzburg

"Congratulations to Czech Republic. They played smart, they played tough. At the end, they were just more physical and stronger, you could see. I think they had six offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, which made the difference in the game. I'm extremely proud of how my players performed. Unfortunately we didn't have the strength to finish this game as well as we started." - Finland head coach Henrik Dettmann

FIBA