Chaos in Group L: Estonia stun Serbia, Israel stay alive, Georgia out but could influence standings

TALLINN (Estonia) - Gameday 11 did not give us an answer on who is advancing from Group L. In fact, wins for Estonia, Israel and Greece only complicated things even more ahead of Sunday's action.

Serbia blowing the first match point

Serbia led for most of the game in Estonia, but were never able to take the lead to double digits. In fact, they owned an 8-point lead early in the fourth quarter, which the hosts erased completely in a 10-2 run to tie the scores with six minutes to play.

Teams traded baskets until the final minute, when Milos Teodosic misfired on a three and a two, handing the hosts the chance to pull off an upset. Kristian Kullamae drove to the paint, then kicked it out for a Sander Raieste corner three-pointer - nothing but net, giving Estonia a 71-68 lead.

Amazingly, Serbia got another chance to tie it, as Stevan Jelovac was fouled on a three-point attempt. But the lefty power forward missed the third shot, Estonia escaping with a 71-70 triumph.

"It was a tough loss. We came here to play with our heart, but the heart is obviously not enough in games like this," Serbia head coach Aleksandar Djordjevic said afterwards.

Israel stay alive

It went from bad to worse for the Serbs, as Israel came up on top of Germany, 81-77, in a game with 21 lead changes, and with none of the teams able to build a double digit advantage. The win included a national team debut for the 2001-born Deni Avdija, and the 20-year-old Gil Beni also played for the first time for the Oded Kattache coached team.

However, even with a win over Serbia, Israel aren't guaranteed of advancing, with Georgia set to play a role in the race for qualification despite being knocked out themselves following a 81-69 defeat to Greece on a busy Thursday night.

Georgia out, but could help Serbia

With Serbia at 6-5, Israel and Georgia at 5-6, a three-way tie of 6-6 teams is possible with an Israeli win in Belgrade and a Georgian win over Estonia. At the moment, Serbia are +46 in that triangle, Israel at +2, and Georgia are out due to two massive defeats to Serbia earlier on in the campaign. With all scores added, Serbia could afford a defeat of up to 21 points and still advance, as long as Georgia defeat Estonia.

But, with the second match point being in front of their own fans, Djordjevic's boys will look to punch the tickets to China by themselves. Any win over Israel would seal the deal for the 2014 runners-up, and no calculators would be needed on Sunday. 

Both Serbia and Israel, Georgia and Estonia tip it off at 16:00 CET.

FIBA