SKOPJE (FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers) – Montenegro, under the guidance of newly-installed head coach Bogdan Tanjevic and powered by star center Nikola Vucevic, are quietly off to a perfect start in their warm-up games for the upcoming FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers.

On Wednesday night in Skopje they collected their sixth win in as many friendlies by prevailing 77-73 over MKD in what was the opener of a four-nation tournament with the participation also of Belgium and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Vucevic, who returned to the national team this summer following a three-year absence, led the way for Montenegro with a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds. The 25-year-old Orlando Magic player also added five assists as he registered an amazing efficiency rating of 32 to underline his dominance.

Derek Needham added 14 points and four assists while Vladimir Mihailović chipped in with 11 points. For the hosts, who are also in the midst of preparations for the Qualifiers, Vojdan Stojanovski finished with 19 points and his brother Damjan added 15 in losing efforts.

The Montenegrins had previously won three scrimmages against Hungary and two against Switzerland during the early stage of preparations, but the Wednesday friendly came in the wake of an important setback as influential swingman Sead Sehovic has been ruled out of the Qualifiers due to injury.

"I am sorry that I am not going to be able to help my team-mates and the coaching staff in qualifying for EuroBasket," Sehovic said in a statement released by the Montenegro federation (KSCG). "I take this opportunity to state that I trust my team-mates to deliver the maximum possible performance in the Qualifiers."

"It is important to feel that we can play and win games in which each single possession is important." - Vucevic

Following Montenegro’s latest win however, Vucevic is convinced the team’s progress cannot be halted. "It is good that we have only picked up victories so far in preparations and it is very important to build self-confidence," the big man said. "I think that the team’s level has gone up a notch in each game and we played better every time from what we did in the game before.

"On Wednesday we played against the best opponent we have faced so far in preparations and we started out so strong that we grabbed a 15-point lead early on, although we allowed them to come back into the game. It is important to feel that we can play and win games in which each single possession is important and I believe that we will be at an even higher level in our next two games in Skopje."

In the other clash on the opening day of the tournament, Belgium prevailed 73-67 over Bosnia and Herzegovina behind an inspiring display by Maxime De Zeeuw who had 22 points and seven boards, while Jonathan Tabu added 12 points, seven boards and four assists. For the Bosnians, Jusuf Nurkic and young star Dzanan Musa had 13 points apiece in losing efforts.

"We will next go up against Bosnia and Herzegovina which is a great team and have taken part in every EuroBasket during the last years," Vucevic said. "Nurkic and [Mirza] Teletovic are their two best players, but there are also [Nemanja] Gordic and [Milan] Milosevic. Together with the game against Slovenia, who await us next week after the tournament in Skopje, I think it will be the toughest test we will face in this preparation period."

Coach Tanjevic is expected to reduce Montenegro’s preliminary team to 14 players at the weekend or by early next week. "You can feel an atmosphere of togetherness among the players and that is what I am always interested in creating around a team," said the veteran tactician.

"We started preparations with 19 players and we also incorporated later youngsters from the national team that achieved a great result by winning the gold medal at the FIBA U18 European Championship Division B, as our desire is to keep track of all the young players who could be candidates for the senior team."

FIBA