Group K: Another Wemby show for France, BIH win do-or-die battle
Life is easier when you have a wunderkind on your side. Victor Wembanyama did a bit of everything to erase a 19-point deficit and send France to 9-2. Lithuania own the same record after beating Hungary.
MUNICH (Germany) - Life is easier when you have a wunderkind on your side, with Victor Wembanyama doing a bit of everything to erase a 19-point deficit in Czech Republic and send France to 9-2. Lithuania own the same record after beating Hungary.
The two juggernauts will face each other in Trelaze, France on Sunday, to determine which side finishes as the winner of Group K in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers.
Meanwhile, with Bosnia and Herzegovina defeating Montenegro, the hunt is still on for the final World Cup ticket from this group. There is even a possibility of a three-way tie for it on Sunday.
Group K
15/18 games played
| GAMES | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | France(1) | 11 | 9 | 2 | 81.8 | 903 | 679 | 224 | 82.1 | 61.7 | 20 |
| 2 | Lithuania(1) | 11 | 9 | 2 | 81.8 | 859 | 782 | 77 | 78.1 | 71.1 | 20 |
| 3 | Montenegro | 11 | 6 | 5 | 54.5 | 812 | 782 | 30 | 73.8 | 71.1 | 17 |
| 4 | BIH | 11 | 6 | 5 | 54.5 | 850 | 900 | -50 | 77.3 | 81.8 | 17 |
| 5 | Hungary | 11 | 5 | 6 | 45.5 | 784 | 877 | -93 | 71.3 | 79.7 | 16 |
| 6 | Czech Republic | 11 | 3 | 8 | 27.3 | 808 | 880 | -72 | 73.5 | 80 | 14 |
Another day, another Wemby show
Czech Republic played host to France in Pardubice, and had a monster 21-3 opening to the matchup. Tomas Kyzlink and Patrik Auda were the one-two punch early on, and coach Vincent Collet only found a way to get into double digits late in the quarter.
The biggest gap stood at 19 points at 30-11 early in the second quarter, but the rest of the game belonged to the 19-year-old Victor Wembanyama. There was nothing the Czech Republic frontcourt to do about the biggest star of the French squad, as he dominated even against the experienced seven-footer in Ondrej Balvin.
Nothing to see here...
— FIBA Basketball World Cup (@FIBAWC) February 23, 2023
Just @vicw_32 dropping back to back threes casually.#FIBAWC x #WinFoFrance pic.twitter.com/i01xkv4iSo
Wembanyama finished with 22 points, 17 rebounds, 6 blocks and 4 steals, all done in less than 30 minutes on the floor. Paul Lacombe had 13 points, Yoan Makoundou finished with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks as the only other players in double digits for France in a 72-59 win.
Kyzlink had 23 points for Czech Republic, who were already eliminated before the February window.
Lithuania put Hungary on hold
Lithuania took care of business in their last home game of the Qualifiers, winning the middle two quarters of the game by 20 to build an 18-point lead with ten minutes left to play. They did not look back the rest of the way, beating Hungary 89-64 to get to 9-2 before their weekend getaway trip to France.
All 12 players scored for coach Kestutis Kemzura, led by Mindaugas Kuzminskas' 14 points in just 19 minutes of work. Donatas Tarolis had 13, Mantas Rubstavicius 12, Eimantas Bendzius 11 and Martinas Geben 10 in a finely balanced offensive system.
Mikael Hopkins scored 17 in a losing effort.
This defeat puts Hungary at 5-6. They now need to defeat Bosnia and Herzegovina on the last Gameday to hope for a three-way tie at 6-6 with BIH and Montenegro. All the other scores would eliminate Hungary from contention.
Montenegro waste first match point
There was a battle for the bragging rights in the neighborhood, as Montenegro had a chance to book their ticket to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 with a win in Tuzla, BIH. They owned a six-point lead in the game and spent 17 minutes in front of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but could not finish the job.
John Roberson powered BIH's comeback in a 20-11 third quarter, lifting the packed Mejdan arena up on their feet. Montenegro did not allow their hosts to run away with the game, fighting back to take another brief lead in the fourth, but the closing minutes belonged to Miralem Halilovic and his teammates.
The captain slammed down a putback dunk to make it 70-66 with a minute to play. Kendrick Perry missed both shots from the free throw line, wasting a chance to cut the gap to two points with 37 seconds to play, allowing Aleksandar Lazic and Roberson to set the final score at 74-66 with no extra drama at the finish line.
Roberson had 19 points to lead BIH, Halilovic counted to 16, while Amar Gegic added 14 off the bench. Perry scored 19 for Montenegro, but shot just 3-of-13 from beyond the arc, still fighting off fatigue after winning the Copa del Rey with Unicaja in Spain over the weekend.
Both teams now stand at 6-5, but Montenegro own the tiebreaker, having won the first matchup 88-69 in August 2022. Montenegro will host Czech Republic on Sunday, coach Adis Beciragic and BIH will be in Hungary at the same time.
A win for Montenegro would make it back-to-back appearances at the FIBA Basketball World Cup for the smallest nation to ever participate in that competition. A defeat for Montenegro, plus a win for BIH would send BIH through to their first ever World Cup, while a defeat for Montenegro paired with a win for Hungary would put the points difference into focus in a three-way tie at 6-6.
FIBA