Spain hold off Ukraine to become sixth European team headed to China 2019

SAN CRISTOBAL DE LA LAGUNA (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - Spain secured their spot in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 by beating Ukraine 72-68 at home to become the sixth team from the European Qualifiers to advance.

Jaime Fernandez led the way for the 2006 world champions with 17 points while Sebas Saiz and Quino Colom both chipped in with a dozen each as Spain ensured it will play in the World Cup for the 10th consecutive time. 

With the win at Santiago Martin Arena, Spain moved to 8-2 in Group I and joined Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece and Lithuania as the European teams headed to next summer's global spectacle in China.

Ukraine dropped to 5-5 despite Vyacheslav Bobrov collecting 21 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.

Turning point: Ukraine never led but knotted it 60-60 on a three-pointer by Vyacheslav Bobrov. Jaime Fernandez answered with a long bomb of his own to make it 65-62 and this was followed by a Ukraine turnover and Pablo Aguilar dunk for a 5-point lead. And Aguilar’s three-pointer off the glass made it 70-62 with 2:30 minutes left to play. Ukraine managed to pull to within 2 after an unsportsmanlike foul by Sebastian Saiz with 13 seconds left but Spain held on.

Game hero: Jaime Fernandez not only paced Spain with 17 points but also had 3 assists and 2 rebounds in the win.

Stats don't lie: Spain committed 14 turnovers compared to 19 for Ukraine while the hosts shot 9 of 25  (36 percent) from beyond the arc, compared to a 3 of 12 (25 percent) performance by Ukraine. Spain won despite getting out-rebounded 35-26 and getting only 18 points in the paint compared to Ukraine's 32.

Bottom line: Spain are headed back to the World Cup, having completed the job in the penultimate window and after losing to Turkey on Thursday. Spain also exacted a bit of revenge after losing to Ukraine earlier in the campaign. By dropping to 5-5, Ukraine have a difficult task to qualify for China 2019 and realistically need to beat Montenegro at home and win at Slovenia in the final window.

They said: "I think it was a tough game. They played really physical. They have big bodies in all positions. You just have to look at the point guards, they are about 2 meters tall. They played strong from the first moment, but I think we played smart in some points. But maybe because we knew the game was super important for us and a big opportunity to qualify for the World Cup, we struggled in some moments. In the last game we lost in the final moments, today we won. So that’s basketball. That’s sports. We are very happy for the qualification, for this group. We are really proud because all the players worked really hard and I am really happy from the first to the last who participated in these windows. And I want to congratulate everybody. - Spain guard Quino Colom

"It was a really tough one. Actually we were physically kind of one level below their players in each and every position. They were taller and bigger than us. And this showed in how dangerous they were inside the paint, with their cuts, with their defensive rebounds, post plays. Throughout the whole game we were trying to keep them away from our basket. Sometimes we were able to, other times we weren’t. And Ukraine never gave up. They were there for 40 minutes. They really made the road difficult for us and that is why this victory is even more valuable for us, even more worth being really proud of. I remember when we started one and a half years ago with our first training camp with most of these players. There were so many doubts, so much concern about what was going to happen. Thanks to the heart and the talent of this group of players. Now we can celebrate our qualification for the World Cup. All the credit to these players because from the first game to the last one, not only did they do their job but they did it with passion, enthusiasm, togetherness and I am really proud of them." - Spain head coach Sergio Scariolo

"It was a tough game for us. We came in with one goal which was to play aggressive and play to the end. We showed today our character. We didn't have all 12 of our players but I think the whole team gave everything today on the court. We tried to fight for each ball, each rebound. We also tried to play good defense. I think we controlled the rebounds. Yes they scored very tough three-pointers but we were still in the game. We missed our last shot. I want to congratulate Spain for going to the World Cup and I want to say thank you to all of our fans who supported us here and in Ukraine. It's really tough to play here because all of Spain supported the team but we did our best tonight and tried to get the best result." - Ukraine forward Vyacheslav Bobrov

"Congratulations to the Spanish team. They will go to the World Cup. It was a good game for both teams. Good defense. But we shot a low percentage from long range and made a lot of mistakes in our game. We only had 10 players in this game and we had a smaller rotation in our game. But I want to say thank you to every one who made it to the court. It’s basketball. We had a good chance in the last second. We had a three-point shot but missed it. It’s basketball but we played good today, especially on defense." - Ukraine head coach Ievgen Murzin 

FIBA