ZARAGOZA (FIBA Basketball World 2019 European Qualifiers) - After escaping a scare in Minsk on Friday, Spain put together a much more convincing display against Montenegro, inscribing a 79-67 victory against the Balkan visitors to book a spot in the Second Round.

Turning point: Despite getting off to a better start, Sergio Scariolo's side found themselves tied all knotted up with the Montenegrins at 36-all with 3:37 remaining in the second period. Spain went on to win a 17-5 run spanning the second and third quarters to pull away for good.

Game hero: Not all heroes wear capes; not all game heroes lead their team in scoring. Quino Colom needed just 17 minutes to get to 11 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists and a steal for a team-high efficiency score of 16.

Stats don't lie: Spain continued to make full use of the country's vast talent pool, with coach Scariolo using all 12 of his players in the game. No player played more than 18 minutes, with Jaime Fernandez logging a team-high 18:03.

Bottom line: Spain moved to a 4-0 mark in Group A and became the only team to secure a place in the Second Round already in February, with fellow group leaders Slovenia unexpectedly falling in Belarus.

They said: "It was a pleasure to work during this week with these players, with this coaching staff and everybody who's running the team. Of course I'm extremely happy for the fourth straight win. We are following the tough road of many other big teams throughout this qualification. I feel that also. Belarus winning against Slovenia increases the value of our efforts three days ago against them. Overall I'm really satisfied with the efforts of my players. We had more than a few minutes of great basketball and then when we struggled a little bit, the attitude was there, the fight was there, the defensive effort was there. We hung in there until we were able to step up again, make a few shots and open the gap which we managed to control until the end. So once again congratulations to my players and thanks to the fans in Zaragoza. I hope they enjoyed it. I'm happy that we enlarged the range of players who participate in this mission which is to bring Spain to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019. Many players have contributed and I think this is extremely good for the whole of Spanish basketball." - Spain head coach Sergio Scariolo.

"They controlled the game from the first moment with the first three points and finished the same way. I think my team, especially these young guys when they played in the second half, they showed in moments some good level of basketball. Most important for my team is if they take good lessons from a game like tonight." - Montenegro head coach Zvezdan Mitrovic.

FIBA