Slovakia beat North Macedonia by 16 to take both teams through
MUNICH (Germany) - The final two spots from the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Pre-Qualifiers Second Round were decided on Wednesday as North Macedonia and Slovakia both advanced.
MUNICH (Germany) - The final two spots from the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Pre-Qualifiers Second Round were decided on Wednesday as North Macedonia and Slovakia both advanced.
Slovakia needed to win by at least 15 points and secured their spot with a dramatic 88-72 triumph against North Macedonia in a result that took both sides through in a three-way tie at the top in Skopje.
Richard Korner's dunk with 17 seconds remaining proved decisive to lift his side past the required differential as Switzerland were the unfortunate side to miss out having kept their hopes alive by beating Slovakia on Tuesday.
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Michael Fusek went a perfect 11-of-11 from the field in a 23-point display along with 7 rebounds in the win for Slovakia with Simon Krajcovic handing out 13 assists to orchestrate the offense.
The final standings for the group are as follows:
Group F
| GAMES | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | North Macedonia | 4 | 2 | 2 | 50.0 | 270 | 263 | 7 | 67.5 | 65.8 | 6 |
| 2 | Slovakia | 4 | 2 | 2 | 50.0 | 259 | 262 | -3 | 64.8 | 65.5 | 6 |
| 3 | Switzerland | 4 | 2 | 2 | 50.0 | 249 | 253 | -4 | 62.2 | 63.2 | 6 |
Meanwhile, Sweden secured top spot in Group C in Matosinhos with a 94-58 victory over Luxembourg. Charles Barton posted 22 points and 10 assists, Alexander Lindqvist added 21 points and Christopher Czerapowicz had 13 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists.
Montenegro completed a perfect 4-0 sweep of Group E on home soil in Podgorica as they defeated Denmark 79-67 to conclude their campaign. Igor Drobnjak scored 15 points to lead five Montenegro players in double digits while Dino Radoncic had a near double-double of 11 points and 9 boards.
Denmark, Luxembourg, Romania and Switzerland are the four sides eliminated at this stage.
FIBA