ESPOO (Finland) - With Finland already qualified as one of the hosts of the FIBA EuroBasket 2025, the battle is on for the remaining two spots in Group G and Georgia finally joined the race with their maiden win of the Qualifiers.
They climbed to 1-2, improving their chances of catching Denmark and/or Serbia in the remaining three games of the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers.
Turning point
While Finland played with ease through the first three quarters, a big run by Georgia saw them make it back to a one-possession deficit as time expired in the third period.
That set up the stage for the biggest star on the court. Tornike Toko Shengelia struggled with his shot through the first 30 minutes, but then knocked down a big three-pointer to give Georgia their first lead of the game at the start of the final stanza, and followed it up with three more shots from beyond the arc.
The fact that he had made only one field goal through the first three quarters make his late game heroics even more impressive.
Finland did not know how to respond to a much more physical Georgian team than in the first 30 minutes, and by the time they caught some breath, Georgia were the ones with a 10-point lead with 3:30 left.
Lassi Tuovi's men did have one last run in them to get within one in the final minute, but Kamar Baldwin's triple put it out of their reach in the closing seconds.
Game hero
Coach Aleksandar Dzikic needed a hero, and Shengelia answered the call. He finished with 24 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, while making 10-of-11 shots from the charity stripe.
Honorable mention goes out to Baldwin in his first game for Georgia. The Georgia, USA native had 23 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds.
Stats don't lie
Free throws are probably the most fundamental aspect of basketball, and yet, in a close encounter such as this one, they are crucial.
Georgia went 28-of-32 from the free throw line, a gigantic number compared to Finland's 13-of-21 from the same distance.
Bottom line
A perfect day for Shengelia, Dzikic and Co. Not only did they defeat Finland on the road on Thursday, but also got some help from Serbia in the other game, meaning there's a three-way tie at 1-2 now with Georgia, Finland and Denmark.
For Finland, it's another valuable experience ahead of the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 they're hosting. The newest lesson learned - Olivier Nkamhoua is for real, 22 points, 10 rebounds, and an efficiency rating of 30 for the NINERS Chemnitz big guy.
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