Two go through: Italy's dramatic win in Georgia sends them, Spain to World Cup
MUNICH (Germany) - Even without the last game of 2022 being played in Group L, Italy and Spain both know they are through to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023. Ukraine also kept the door open with a win.
MUNICH (Germany) - Even without the last game of 2022 being played in Group L, Italy and Spain both know they are through to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023. Ukraine also kept the door open with a win.
Italy and Georgia were involved in a thriller for the ages. The hosts had a chance to win it on the final possession, but the Azzurri survived, winning the game by a single point to advance to the World Cup. With Iceland falling to Ukraine, and Georgia losing to Italy, Spain cannot be caught anymore by the fourth placed team, meaning the defending champs are also through to the Final Round.
The first game of the day say Ukraine complete a 2-0 performance in the November window. After their 19-point win on the road in the Netherlands, they defeated Iceland at a home game in Riga, Latvia.
Group L
12/18 games played
| GAMES | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | Spain* | 8 | 7 | 1 | 87.5 | 675 | 570 | 105 | 84.4 | 71.2 | 15 |
| 2 | Italy* | 8 | 6 | 2 | 75.0 | 724 | 693 | 31 | 90.5 | 86.6 | 14 |
| 3 | Georgia | 8 | 4 | 4 | 50.0 | 630 | 654 | -24 | 78.8 | 81.8 | 12 |
| 4 | Iceland | 8 | 4 | 4 | 50.0 | 645 | 685 | -40 | 80.6 | 85.6 | 12 |
| 5 | Ukraine | 8 | 3 | 5 | 37.5 | 664 | 656 | 8 | 83 | 82 | 11 |
| 6 | Netherlands | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 576 | 656 | -80 | 72 | 82 | 8 |
November 14, 2022
Ukraine v Iceland 79-72
Georgia v Italy 84-85
Spain v Netherlands 84-72
Shengelia runs out of time, Italy advance
It was another nail-biter in Georgian capital Tbilisi, but without a happy end for the loud and proud home fans. Italy escaped with a narrow 85-84 win, pushing both themselves and Spain out of this group and into the World Cup draw.
No team had a lead bigger than eight points, but Georgia opened up a 74-69 lead on Mikheil Berishvili's back-to-back three-pointers with just four minutes left to play.
What's better than two straight threes? How about Italy's four straight, one by Luca Severini, two by Marco Spissu and another by Giampaolo Ricci that made it a five point game with just 40 ticks left on the game clock.
Georgia did not surrender. Instead, Tornike Shengelia powered a quick run that got them to 84-85 with seven seconds left to play. They sent Alessandro Pajola to the free throw line, he missed both of his shots, but as Thaddus McFadden and Shengelia tried to make something happen, the time expired just before Shengelia was fouled.
The official review confirmed the foul was after the buzzer - game over, celebrations for coach Gianmarco Pozzecco and his men. Spissu had 15 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds on the night, Shengelia finished with 15, 6 and 5 in the same categories for Georgia.
Pozzecco beamed post-game: "I love my players. I really love my players. They never give up. In one moment, I thought the game was over when we were down by five. My players showed their character and had a really big desire to win the game. They are like heroes right now because they have reached the World Cup - they deserve it."
Smooth sailing for Spain
The defending champions knew that Italy's win propelled them to another World Cup, but still did their part, too, taking down the Netherlands 84-72.
All 12 players played for coach Sergio Scariolo, Sebastian Saiz being the only one with more than 20 minutes on the floor, and only Juan Nunez did not score - mostly because he didn't want to, and focused on distributing the ball. The 18-year-old point guard dished out 6 assists in just 17 minutes of play.
Dario Brizuela was the top scorer with 16 points in 19 minutes, Olaf Schaftenaar had 19 for Oranje.
Krutous big shots keep Ukraine in the hunt
Iceland went on the road with a +3 margin from their first matchup with Ukraine, and looked to either sweep them or protect that lead for most of the game in Riga, Latvia. However, Ukraine found their shooting touch when it mattered most in the fourth quarter.
Pavlo Krutous had two triples in the game, but both of them came in the clutch to open up a double digit lead late in a game that saw 14 lead changes until then. Iceland ran out of energy, falling 79-72 in the end. They are still a win up on Ukraine at 4-4, but now must avoid a tie with them at the end of Gameday 12.
Oleksandr Lypovyy had a team-high 16 points for Ukraine, Krutous and Viacheslav Kravtsov added 13 each from the bench to give coach Ainars Bagatskis a balanced offense. Tryggvi Hlinason had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Iceland.
FIBA