Slovenia lock up ticket for return to World Cup

MUNICH (Germany) - Slovenia defeated Germany 81-75 to lock up a ticket to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, returning to the global stage after missing out on the 2019 showcase in China.

Slovenia righted the national disappointment of failing to qualify for the last World Cup as Jordan Morgan and Ziga Samar both registered double-doubles against Germany at home - joining the Germans and Finland as the third team from Group J to reach the World Cup.

"We are very happy. The last World Cup we were watching on television. So this is a big thing and I think that Slovenia should be at every World Cup," Slovenian captain Edo Muric said after the game.

"For us this is very important. We wanted to win this game. And at the end we won. This is the most important thing. Everything else is less important," added head coach Aleksander Sekulic.

Group J

12/18 games played

		GAMES				GAME POINTS					POINTS
#	Team	P	W	L	%	For	Agt	+/-	FA	AA
1	Germany*	10	8	2	80.0	800	707	93	80	70.7	18
2	Finland*	10	8	2	80.0	800	752	48	80	75.2	18
3	Slovenia*	10	7	3	70.0	837	792	45	83.7	79.2	17
4	Sweden	10	5	5	50.0	782	794	-12	78.2	79.4	15
5	Israel	10	3	7	30.0	762	772	-10	76.2	77.2	13
6	Estonia	10	2	8	20.0	719	828	-109	71.9	82.8	12

* Qualified for the World Cup  

Slovenia 81-75 Germany - Koper, Slovenia
Finland  91-71 - Estonia - Espoo, Finland
Sweden 71-68 Israel - Norrkoping, Sweden

Samar, Morgan shine in Slovenia win over Germany

 
Slovenia will be playing at the World Cup for the fourth time as they held off Germany 81-75 at home for a 7-3 record in the group. Slovenia, who reached the World Cup in 2006, 2010 and 2014, took the second quarter 25-10 and controlled most of the rest of the game. Germany went on a 12-0 run to pull within six points with 83 seconds to play but could not complete the comeback and fell to 8-2.

Ziga Samar's double-double helped Slovenia reach the World Cup

Jordan Morgan paced Slovenia with 22 points to go with 13 rebounds and 4 assists while Ziga Samar picked up 14 points, 12 assists and 5 rebounds. David Kramer led Germany with 21 points.

Strong second half carries Finland past Estonia

 
Finland bounced back from their loss to Germany earlier in the European  Qualifiers window with a 91-71 victory over Estonia. Finland took over the game in third quarter with runs of 10-2 and 8-1, and Estonia never challenged in the final frame. Finland improved to 8-2 and Estonia fell to 2-8.

Finland, who were already qualified for the World Cup coming into the window, were paced by Mikael Jantunen with 24 points and 8 rebounds while Edon Maxhuni and Elias Valtonen both scored 14 points and combined for 12 assists. Estonia, who were eliminated from contention with their loss Friday against Sweden, had Artur Konontsuk lead the way with 13 points.

Sweden down Israel again, lock up fourth in group

Sweden locked up fourth place in Group J as they defeated Israel 81-78 at home for their second win in Window 5 of the European Qualifiers. Sweden beat Israel for the second time in the group for a 5-5 record thanks to a layup and two free throws from Ludvig Hakanson in the final 24 seconds. Israel are fifth in the group at 3-7.

Hakanson finished the game with 29 points while Simon Birgander collected 10 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks. Rafael Menco was Israel's top scorer with 17 points.

FIBA