COLOGNE (Germany) - Slovenia showed another way they can win, playing ultra small-ball and Luka Doncic carrying the reigning champions to a nail-biting 88-82 victory over France to secure first place in Group B of the FIBA EuroBasket 2022. 

Slovenia were missing starting center Mike Tobey but that didn't stop Doncic, who was unstoppable with 47 points to give his side a 4-1 record in the group. It is the most points in a single EuroBasket game in the last 65 years and the second-highest tally in competition history behind Eddy Terrace's 63 points for Belgium in 1957.

 
Turning Point: France raced ahead by 11 points in the first quarter until Doncic started to heat up and it was a one-point game after 10 minutes. The game was tight for the next two quarters and deadlocked 64-64 after 30 minutes. Slovenia buckled down on defense to start the final frame and mounted a 13-3 surge to go ahead 77-67. France fought back and evened the game 82-82 but Goran Dragic grabbed a steal and layup and Vlatko Cancar nailed a big jumper with 45 seconds to play for an 86-82 lead. The Dragic brothers iced the game with another steal and layup.

TCL Player of the Game:  It would be a crime to pick anyone other than Doncic, who put on a show for the ages scoring  his 47 points on 15-of-23 shots  while also picking up 7 rebounds and 5 assists.

Stats Don't Lie: Slovenia shot 49 percent for the game and made 20 of 23 free throws compared to 8 of 12 from the charity stripe for France. Despite playing without Tobey, Slovenia finished the game with the same number of rebounds as France.

Bottom Line:  By locking up the top spot in Group B, Slovenia will play the fourth placed team from Group A. But Slovenia will have to wait until later in the day to see who their opponent will be. France will face Turkey in the Round of 16.

They Said: "We started slow, which was expected. But how the guys reacted on the court, this is their win. They fought. How they played as a team was just amazing. Luka had a great night. He's spoiled us so much we think this is normal. That's not normal. That's high level. That’s really amazing what he's doing on the court." -Slovenia coach Aleksander Sekulic

"We knew what this game could bring to us. We started slow but in the end we gathered energy, and Luka made a perfect night for us." - Edu Muric, Slovenia

"We're a strong group of guys. If a guy is down, another guy will step up and fill his shoes. Today we played most of the game with two power forwards and they were fighting like lions under the basket against Rudy Gobert, who is one of the tallest guys in this tournament. It's really important that we win one of these games where someone is missing. - Luka Blazic, Slovenia

"I thought we played with the right mentality, the way we fought. Especially after the second quarter, we picked up our intensity. I felt like the spirit was great. I felt like we did a great job moving the ball. Tough game, Luka had a great night. Despite all that it comes down to a few plays down the stretch and I think it could have gone either way." - Rudy Gobert, France

"It was a good battle. Slovenia is a serious team and very talented. I can’t really say much about 77. I think he showed everything that needed to be shown. Frustrated about the loss but there are a lot of things we can do to get better." - Amath M'Baye, France

 
FIBA