FIBA – Bulgarians see off Finns and Italy survive against Hungary

GENEVA (EuroBasket Qualifying) - Bulgaria won a crunch clash against Finland and Italy survived a terrific comeback by Hungary in the latest EuroBasket 2009 qualifiers.

Luol Deng and Great Britain edged Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium upset Ukraine and Turkey remained undefeated by beating Tony Parker and France in other key games.

Ibrahim Jaaber scored eight of his game-high 29 points in a decisive 16-0 run in the third quarter as Bulgaria got their EuroBasket qualifying campaign back on track with a victory over Finland.

Pini Gershon's team was pushed extremely hard by the fantastic Finns but ultimately won 102-90, snapping a two-game losing streak to improve to 4-2 in Group A.

Italy, with just one win in four games, got off the canvas and beat Finland 75-68.

Carlo Recalcati’s team stormed into a 26-12 lead by the end of the first quarter only for Hungary to fight back and tie the game at 57-57 with a 7-0 run at the beginning of fourth quarter.

Italy’s Massimo Bulleri and Andrea Crosariol hit jumpers, and Crosariol followed with a dunk for a 63-57 advantage 4:26 from the end.

Hungary got no closer than four points the rest of the way.

Valerio Amoroso of Italy, who had 12 points and 10 boards, said: "We are a young and new team and it's still difficult to play together, but we were focused on winning this game and we did.

“We were able to play good basketball when needed. We are happy and ready to go to Finland to win."

The results mean that Bulgaria top Group A though second-place Serbia (4-1) have a game in hand. Italy (2-4) are third with Hungary (2-4) fourth and Finland (2-3) fifth.

In Group D, Luol Deng erupted for 29 points and Nate Reinking hit key baskets in a 15-0 third-quarter surge that propelled Great Britain to an 82-74 triumph over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Deng, the Chicago Bulls star, is pouring in 26.7 per contest this summer in Division A.

Pops Mensah-Bonsu, one of DKV Jovetut’s big summer signings, had another big game with 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Brits.

Israel, who beat Britain in overtime in their opener, slumped to a second straight defeat when falling at the Czech Republic, 91-70.

Britain and the Czechs are 2-1 and share the Group D lead while Bosnia and Israel are both 1-2.

In Group B, Latvia claimed their third victory in as many games with a 79-43 home triumph over reeling Portugal.

Andris Biedrins, the Latvians' outstanding center, had 21 points and 12 rebounds.

FYR of Macedonia got 20 points from Djeremaja Mejsi and Todor Gecevski weighed in with 18 in a 90-78 triumph at Estonia.

Latvia top the group at 3-0 ahead of FRYOM (2-1), Estonia (1-2) and Portugal.

In Group C, Turkey rolled to a 77-65 triumph over France – their third successive victory.

Les Bleus, who got 32 points from Tony Parker, are now in a three-way tie with 1-2 records with Belgium and Ukraine.

Belgium won their game against Ukraine 72-61.

FIBA