MUNICH (Germany) - Switzerland and Austria both remained perfect at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Pre-Qualifiers, while Ireland and Romania both grabbed their first wins of the campaign in the opening day of the window.
Switzerland took a giant step towards the Second Round of the Pre-Qualifiers as they knocked off Kosovo 75-43 for a 3-0 record in Group A.
The home side gave up just six points in the second quarter and only three points in the final frame. Boris Mbala had a monster game with 15 points and 12 rebounds, Johnathan Kazadi and Selim Fofana both added 14 points in the win.
Ireland rolled to their first victory in Group A as they defeated Azerbaijan 91-67 at home in Dublin. The lead was 48-25 at halftime and the Irish never looked back in moving to 1-2.
Jordan Blount flirted with a triple-double as he collected 13 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists and Sean Flood drained 6 three-pointers in scoring 28 points. Jordan Davis had 25 points and 10 rebounds in a losing effort as Azerbaijan fell to 1-2.
Group B is wide open after Romania notched their first win by beating Norway 75-62 on the road. That leaves both of those teams as well as Luxembourg at 1-1.
Romania never trailed but could only put away the northern Europeans in the fourth quarter. Alex Olah paced the victors with 16 points and 6 blocks while Kris Richard scored 14 points and Emanuel Cate collected 8 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks.
Harald Frey was Norway's leading scorer with 21 points.
Meanwhile, Austria took first place in Group C after a comfortable 99-63 road victory Albania for a 2-0 record. Sylven Landesberg paced four Austrians in double figures with 22 points in his first game for the country in more than five years.
Another victory on Sunday will cement their place as group winners, and a place in the Second Round.
The 10 teams in the three groups are playing for four spots in the next stage, which will be going to the three group winners as well as the best-ranked runner-up.
Highs
Efficiency: 28 - Jordan Blount (IRL), Luka Brajkovic (AUT) Points: 28 - Sean Flood (IRL) Rebounds: 13 - Emanuel Cate (ROU) Assists: 8 - Jordan Blount (IRL) Steals: 4 - Johnathan Kazadi (SUI) Blocks: 6 - Alex Olah (ROU)
Sunday, November 24
Azerbaijan vs Switzerland - 11:00 CET Armenia vs Austria - 15:00 CET Luxembourg vs Romania - 17:00 CET Ireland vs Kosovo - 18:00 CET
FIBA