Kivi time! Estonia defeat Sweden on a Robin Kivi buzzer-beating three-pointer

MATOSINHOS (Portugal) - Drama does not even begin to describe what happened in the end of the Estonia v Sweden game, as Robin Kivi played the tole of a hero by sinking a game winning shot at the buzzer.

Estonia owned a 5-point lead going into the final minute of the game, but a Karl Lundqvist high-arching three-pointer cut the gap to two points, and Sweden were back on level terms when Erik Persson made both free throws with 30 seconds to play.

Kristian Kullamae turned the ball over on the next Estonian possession, and it went from bad to worse because Matthias Tass fouled David Hook under the Swedish basket, which sent the man in yellow to the free throw line.

Here is where it got bizarre. Hook missed the first free throw, and the second one got stuck on the rim, with the alternating possession arrow pointing the Estonian way. With five seconds to play, coach Aivar Kuusmaa drew up a play, Kullamae drove to the rim and kicked out a perfect assist for Robin Kivi.

The rest was history, Kivi sank the game-winner to set the final score at 59-56. Kullamae had 16 points, Tass finished with 13 and 11 rebounds, Sten Saaremael scored 13, and the game hero Robin Kivi collected 6 points on the night.

Estonia rise to 2-0, while Sweden got a rude awakening after their +123 start to the event. Elsewhere, Bulgaria got to 2-0 with an 82-62 win over Albania, Georgia were dominant against Armenia (98-46) to climb to 2-0, and Belgium won the neighborhood derby, 86-58 against Luxembourg.

Top scorer of the day: Karl Lundqvist of Sweden was the only 20-point scorer of the day, shooting 8-of-12 from the field, including 2-of-4 from deep.

Top rebounder of the day: Haris Bratanovic of Belgium collected 14 rebounds - 7 of them being offensive - with 15 points, being the best under both rims on the day.

Top passer of the day: Vrenz Bleijenbergh of Belgium is having himself a tournament. Another all-round game, with a day-high 8 assists in 19 minutes on the court.

Top thief of the day: Eldi Hysa of Albania stole the ball 5 times, but defeat wasn't avoided. Berdia Kavtaradze of Georgia also had 5 steals.

Another strong defensive game by Ryuny

Top blocker of the day: Neemias Queta helped Portugal to a 73-39 win over North Macedonia with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks. Dzmitry Ryuny blocked 4 shots for Belarus, but Hungary won that game 63-51.

FIBA