CLUJ-NAPOCA (FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers) – Bulgaria, Hungary and Estonia, three of the teams that will enter the Qualifiers race on 31 August for a berth at FIBA EuroBasket 2017, received something of a sneak preview at next year’s big tournament, courtesy of Romania. The FIBA EuroBasket 2017 co-hosts played host to the three national teams in a friendly tournament in Cluj-Napoca, one of the four venues that will host a group of the show-piece event next year.

Bulgaria claimed victory in the four-nation tournament on a 2-1 record but the other three participants also had reasons to feel satisfied from their showing in the Cluj-Napoca event. Hungary, despite playing without their big star Adam Hanga, finished tied with the tournament winners at 2-1. Estonia lost twice but fell in both games by a single point, while they were the only team to beat Bulgaria. Hosts Romania also finished at 1-2 but showed that they are not getting rust this summer despite not having to play official games.

In the tournament opener, Bulgaria delivered a thunderous first half performance to grab a 47-24 lead over Hungary by half-time and then cruised to an 87-59 win as they controlled the boards 44-33. Aleksandar Vezenkov led the winners with 15 points and six rebounds, Pavlin Ivanov added 13 points while David Vojvoda finished with 13 for Hungary.

Romania edged out Estonia 67-66 behind a 12-point display by each of Alexandru Olah and Malcolm Armstead, but the following day the Estonians inflicted a 73-72 defeat on Bulgaria thanks to a 14-point, five-assist showing by Sten Sokk and Hungary defeated Romania 70-59 on the back of 17 points from Vojvoda.

"This kind of games is helping players develop their self-confidence and I am very happy for that," commented Estonia head coach Tiit Sokk. "Playing 40 minutes of a very tight game is much more useful to us right now, facing roughly equal opponents is helping because in a game where there is a gap of 20 points there is very little control."

With the four teams going into the final day of action tied at 1-1, Bulgaria prevailed 83-76 over Romania behind a double-double of 29 points and 10 rebounds by Demarquis Bost. The win handed Bulgaria first place in the tournament as in the other game Hungary edged out Estonia 54-53.

"I think that the strongest team in the tournament was Estonia, so I'm particularly proud that we were able to defeat them," said Hungary head coach Stojan Ivkovics. "We have believed in a system during the past four years and this system is now about to bring results. I hope everybody understands that the Hungarian national team has advanced a lot compared to four year ago. It is no coincidence that we were in the second pot in the Qualifiers draw. Of course this does not give us a spot at the EuroBasket, but it means we should not feel fazed by the big names of the opponents, because our guys are also good players."

Bost led the tournament in scoring with 18 points per game and assists, with 5.5 per contest. His young team-mate Vezenkov was the second-best scorer with an average of 15 points while Vojvoda had 14.3 points per game. Romania’s Vlad Moldoveanu was the top rebounder with 8.3 boards to go with his 12.3 points per night.

Estonia were drawn in Group D of the Qualifiers together with Belarus, Poland and Portugal, Bulgaria will go up against Kosovo, Slovenia and Ukraine in Group E while Hungary are facing Great Britain, Luxembourg and MKD in Group G.

FIBA