Benke's banked three gets Hungary past Austria in OT and back to EuroBasket

KIEV (Ukraine) - Hungary trailed for most of the game but came up big when it counted most as Szilard Benke banked in a three-pointer from the right side for an 83-81 overtime win over Austria to secure a spot at FIBA EuroBasket 2022.

Hungary have now made it to back-to-back EuroBaskets after coming back late in regulation twice to force the extra session and prevailing on Benke's heroics.

Turning point: Hungary were down 73-66 with under 3 minutes left when David Vojvoda nailed a three-pointer and hit a tough jumper to start a 7-0 spurt to tie the game. Rasid Mahalbasic stole the ball from Vojvoda and threw down a dunk for Austria, but Benke hit a driving layup with 11 seconds left to force overtime. In the OT, Thomas Kleipeisz hit a three-pointer to give Austria an 81-80 lead. In the final 15 seconds, Austria forced Zoltan Perl to give up the ball on the right side to Benke, who drained the bank-shot triple with Enis Murati's hand in his face. Murati tried for the win but missed his three-pointer.

Game hero: Vojvoda did score 22 points but Benke came up with the heroics while also picking up 14 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block.

Stats don't lie: Hungary connected on 14-of-33 three-pointers for 42.4 percent compared to 8-of-22 (36.4 percent) for Austria.

Bottom line: Hungary's win decides which three teams will advance from Group F as Hungary at 3-1 joined Slovenia (4-1) and Ukraine (2-2) in reaching next summer's continental showcase. Austria dropped to 0-5 and have another game with Hungary on Sunday with the hope of at least picking up one victory. Hungary will then face Ukraine on Monday.

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FIBA