SZOLNOK (FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers) - Hungary are heading back to the big show. Next year for the first time since 1999, when the team's big guns were Kornel David and Robert Gulyas, the Magyars are going to play at a European Championship.

Who would have expected that from a country that was nowhere on the radar back on the 31st of August when they launched their qualifying campaign for FIBA EuroBasket 2017 with a home game against Great Britain?

The Hungarians have clinched their place and done so impressively, winning all six of their qualifying games. They swept Britain, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD) and Luxembourg. Leaders have emerged, with Adam Hanga and David Vojvoda pouring in the points.

Hungary went unbeaten, digging deep to do so. They could very easily have lost at London's Copper Box to the Brits on 10 September, trailing from early in the second quarter and into the fourth.

But good teams stick with it, and Hungary, buoyed by the confidence of their other victories, did. They won 88-80.

Hanga didn't hit all of his shots but still finished with an eye-popping line of 18 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Vojvoda also had 18 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

"We showed that we are a real team and a real family at the same time," Vojvoda said. "The Great Britain team led throughout the game but we couldn’t believe that we would lose this game. That is part of this team’s characteristic."

Vojvoda has knocked down plenty of 3-pointers for Hungary

An interesting challenge emerged on Saturday when neither Hanga nor Vojvoda played against MKD. Hungary still won. Csaba Ferencz picked up the slack in the scoring department with 18 points.

"As we mentioned many times, this is not just a team, but like family," coach Stojan Ivkovic said. "I'm so proud of my guys, they worked hard and reached our dream to be at EuroBasket 2017."

Hungary will have a chance to do well next year if they remain true to the philosophy that allowed them to be successful this year. The players need to be unselfish and stay together.

"Our strength is to be a team and play for each other," said Krisztian Wittmann. "This is how we want to continue at EuroBasket 2017."

FIBA