CLUJ-NAPOCA (Romania) - Spain made their return to the arena where they had beaten Romania during the FIBA EuroBasket 2017, and picked up another win to start their Qualifiers campaign with a completely fresh lineup for coach Sergio Scariolo.

Back in 2017, Spain stormed to a 41-point win against the hosts of Group C. This time around, Romania were hanging around, but could not put the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 winners to a bigger test than the final score, 84-71, suggests.

Turning Point: The score was tied at 25-all midway through the second quarter, but it was all about the depth of Spain's team until the break as Ferran Bassas, Dario Brizuela, Sebastian Saiz, Xabi Lopez-Arostegui, Xavi Rabaseda, Santi Yusta and Javier Beiran all played their part en route to a 44-34 lead at halftime. Spain spent more than 35 minutes in front of Romania, largest lead was +16.

Game Hero: It was a matter of picking your poison with this squad. Sergio Scariolo found one in Dani Diez, who had 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Honorable mention goes to 19-year-old Carlos Alocen, who had 9 assists in 18 minutes of work.

Stats Don't Lie: When you compare the two and see that Romania committed 17 turnovers, it is not that big of a deal next to Spain's 14. But, Spain turned defense into offense every time, picking up a 12-0 margin in fast break points, and a 19-11 edge in points from turnovers.

Bottom Line: Sergio Scariolo took a break from his long NBA season to come and coach the team, and it seems like he could find a new weapon or two through this campaign. Rodrigo San Miguel and Javier Beiran are the only two players older than 30 among the 12 that took the court in Cluj-Napoca. Romania got 19 points and 13 rebounds from Emanuel Cate, but they will have to search for their ticket to the Final Round in matchups with Poland and Israel.

FIBA