Luxembourg pull off 23-point comeback; Austria win high-scoring opener

MUNICH (Germany) - Luxembourg pulled off a magical comeback and shocked Romania in their opening game of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Pre-Qualifiers while Switzerland, Kosovo and Austria also started with wins.

In one of four Pre-Qualifiers across the continent, Luxembourg rallied from 23-points down in the fourth quarter to beat Romania 76-72 in overtime in Group B.

Romania were cruising and continually built their lead to 61-38 with under nine minutes to play. The hosts completely collapsed and Luxembourg went on a 29-4 run to actually take the lead 67-65. Romania would recover and send the game to overtime 67-67.

Ben Kovac helped Luxembourg to the win 

Max Logelin hit a three-pointer for a 74-69 lead and then converted two foul shots for a 76-72 cushion with 19 seconds left to deliver the win.

Logelin and Ben Kovac both had 15 points in the win while Romania wasted Emanuel Cate's 25-point showing. 

In Group A, Switzerland rallied from 11 points down in the second quarter before racing away from Azerbaijan for a 72-53 victory at home. Selim Fofana led the way with 19 points, Anthony Polite tallied 16 points and 9 rebounds, and Michel-Ofik Nzege had a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Dardan Berisha

The other Group A game saw Kosovo lose an 11-point lead but fought past Ireland  83-76 at home. Ireland went on a 15-2 run spanning the final two quarters to pull ahead but Kosovo followed with a 13-2 surge to decide the game.

Drilon Hajrizi scored 20 points and Dardan Berisha added 19 points in the win, while Jordan Blount poured in 27 points and 13 rebounds in the loss.  

Rasid Mahalbasic

Meanwhile, Austria took care of business in their opener with a 106-91 home victory over Armenia in Group C. Rasid Mahalbasic top scored with 27 points, Bogic Vujosevic added 24 points and Daniel Friedrich chipped in 21 points for the winners. Chris Jones tallied 30 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds in the loss.

Highs

Efficiency: 30 - Emanuel Cate (ROU), Chris Jones (ARM)
Points: 30 - Chris Jones (ARM) 
Rebounds: 13 - Jordan Blount (IRL)
Assists: 8 - Chris Jones (ARM)
Steals: 5 - Malcolm Kreps (LUX)
Blocks: 2 - Zach Leday (AZE), Zachary Tavitian (ARM)

Sunday, February 25

Azerbaijan vs Kosovo - 11:00 CET
Armenia vs Albania - 15:00 CET
Ireland vs Switzerland - 16:00 CET
Luxembourg vs Norway - 17:00 CET

FIBA