Slovakia deny North Macedonia qualification, Portugal stay unbeaten

MUNICH (Germany) - Everything will be decided on the final day of the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers as Slovakia denied North Macedonia advancement while Portugal remained the only undefeated team in the competition. 

Slovakia took over the Group D game with a 15-4 run at the end of the third quarter en route to an 82-73 victory in Levice, improving to 3-2 in Group D and pulled North Macedonia closer at 4-1. With the nine-point win, Slovakia now own the tiebreaker over North Macedonia.

Group D

10/12 games played

		GAMES				GAME POINTS					POINTS
#	Team	P	W	L	%	For	Agt	+/-	FA	AA
1	North Macedonia	5	4	1	80.0	357	334	23	71.4	66.8	9
2	Slovakia	5	3	2	60.0	367	365	2	73.4	73	8
3	Norway	5	2	3	40.0	339	338	1	67.8	67.6	7
4	Denmark	5	1	4	20.0	355	381	-26	71	76.2	6

Simon Krajcovic led the way for Slovakia with 23 points while Vladimir Brodziansky had 18 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists and 18-year-old Timotej Malovec chipped in 15 points and 13 rebounds.  T.J. Shorts' 23 points and 6 assists for North Macedonia were not enough. 

In the other Group D game, Denmark beat Norway 69-61 for their first win and dropped Norway to 2-3. 

Portugal did their part to book their ticket to the EuroBasket Qualifers as they fought off a Cyprus comeback and won 75-66 to remain undefeated in Group F at 5-0. Cyprus dropped to 0-5.

Group F

10/12 games played

		GAMES				GAME POINTS					POINTS
#	Team	P	W	L	%	For	Agt	+/-	FA	AA
1	Portugal	5	5	0	100	432	334	98	86.4	66.8	10
2	Bulgaria	5	4	1	80.0	387	342	45	77.4	68.4	9
3	Romania	5	1	4	20.0	323	378	-55	64.6	75.6	6
4	Cyprus	5	0	5	0	321	409	-88	64.2	81.8	5

Portugal led 21-9 but found themselves down 33-31 in the second quarter. Cyprus were down just four points late in the third quarter but they scored just 3 points in the first 7 minutes of the final frame and could not come up with the upset. Travante Williams poured in 24 points for Portugal and Miguel Queiroz tallied 16 points and 15 rebounds for the winners.

Portugal could have advanced to the EuroBasket Qualifiers with a Bulgaria loss at Romania but Pavlin Ivanov drained the game-deciding three-pointer with 56 seconds left in Bulgaria's 62-61 road win.

Codi Miller-McIntyre collected 11 points and 12 assists - the last one to Ivanov, who scored 14 points off the bench. Bulgaria are 4-1 ahead of their matchup home matchup against Portugal on Sunday February 26.

It was clear coming into Game day 5 that Group E would not be decided, but Poland put themselves in their best position with a comfortable 87-72 home win over Austria. The game was tied 21-21 before Poland went on a 15-2 spurt to end any doubts.

Group E

10/12 games played

		GAMES				GAME POINTS					POINTS
#	Team	P	W	L	%	For	Agt	+/-	FA	AA
1	Poland	5	4	1	80.0	413	342	71	82.6	68.4	9
2	Croatia	5	4	1	80.0	399	340	59	79.8	68	9
3	Switzerland	5	2	3	40.0	322	356	-34	64.4	71.2	7
4	Austria	5	0	5	0	331	427	-96	66.2	85.4	5

Aleksander Balcerowski was dominant with 25 points and 8 rebounds with Michal Michalak the only other Polish player in double figures on 10 points. The winners moved to 4-1 ahead of their final game at Switzerland and Austria are winless at 0-5.

Croatia moved even with Poland at 4-1 thanks to a strong fourth quarter in a 64-56 win at Switzerland. The Swiss led 47-39 late in the third quarter but tallied only 7 points in the final frame to drop to 2-3.

Roko Prkacin collected 15 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks and Toni Nakic contributed 14 points for the winning side.

FIBA