TBILISI (Georgia) - Back in FIBA EuroBasket 2025, Spain were considered one of the favorites to reach the medal round as reigning champions, but they could not even escape the Group Phase, as Toko Shengelia and the rest of Aleksandar Dzikic's men handed them a loss to stop them in tracks.
Sunday called for a bit of history repeating, as Georgia downed Spain again, 91-89, ruining their chances of reaching the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Qualifiers Second Round with a perfect 6-0 score.
Instead, Spain will carry over a 5-1 record, while Georgia have three wins to their name and solid chances of making it back to the World Cup again.
It was a win with so many incredible storylines:
Georgia were down by 22 (!) points, got back, had a two-point lead before the end of the fourth, but Jaime Pradilla's reverse layup sent it to overtime.
Spain's got a new one-two punch in the backcourt for years to come, as 24-year-old Alvaro Cardenas (14pts, 4reb, 4ast, 2stl, 2blk) and 20-year-old Mario Saint-Supery (13pts in 19min off the bench) fueled the offense.
Marcquise Reed is turning into the best scorer of the Qualifiers, enjoying life with the ball and the decision making in his hands under coach Dzikic, scoring 32 points on 12-of-21 shooting, with 7 assists as well. It was his fourth game in these Qualifiers, he's now got 97 points in 108 minutes of playing time!
Toko, the Super Hero, again. Just looking at the game, you would've never thought this man is about to turn 35, and had just finished his club season on June 24. He played 44:31 of possible 45 minutes, finishing with 37 points on 13-of-24 shooting, including 6-of-11 from beyond the arc, 10 boards and 4 steals also to his name.
Shengelia's shenanigans were too much for any kind of defense coach Chus Mateo tried throwing at him.
With 37 points, he tied Jordan Loyd's mark for most points in this campaign, while only Dennis Schroder (38) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (40) have scored more than Shengelia in a single game in FIBA Basketball World Cup European Qualifiers history.
# | Player | Team | Opposition | Year | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Greece | Serbia | 2022 | 40 |
2. | Dennis Schroder | Germany | Poland | 2022 | 38 |
3. | Jordan Loyd | Poland | Latvia | 2026 | 37 |
= | Toko Shengelia | Georgia | Spain | 2026 | 37 |
5. | Michael Dixon | Georgia | Serbia | 2017 | 36 |
Spain (5-1) and Georgia (3-3) are joined by Ukraine (4-2) as Group A teams in the Second Round Group I. Their next three opponents are still unclear.
FIBA