Belgian Lions shock Spain in Tbilisi

TBILISI (Georgia) - Belgium pulled off the upset of the FIBA EuroBasket 2022, bringing down down Spain in an 83-73 thriller to move 2-1 in Group A.

The tone was set from the very beginning as both teams went through offensive droughts against quality play on defense. However, the Belgian Lions managed to score 26 points in the last quarter to come out as victors.

 
Turning point: Spain was on top in the middle of the third quarter and using pressure defense to slow down Emmanuel Lecomte. However, Belgium were just precise enough with their passing to go into the fourth quarter as the leading team.

TCL Player of the Game: Emmanuel Lecomte excelled with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and some very level-headed play against Spain's pressure defense.

 
Stats don't lie: In a game that had many ups and downs it was Belgium who won the very important battle on the boards 40-31.

Bottom line: Things become very interesting in Group A where both Spain and Belgium have the record of 2-1.

They said:

"I'm not really surprised about what we did today. I know the guys and coach really well, and I know what we're capable of doing when we show up with the right mindset - we can make pretty much anything happen." - Emmanuel Lecomte, Belgium

"Those were 35 minutes of amazing effort, diving for every ball and presenting ourselves on a better level. We had a bad taste in our mouth from the last game. Except for the first five minutes of the second quarter, everything else was like a dream. We showed that people need to account for us. We're not a small country basketball-wise." - Belgium coach Dario Gjergja

"We have to learn from this game. Maybe it was a lack of experience from the team in back-to-back games. At the beginning of the game we didn't play so hard. Belgium was playing very well." - Rudy Fernandez, Spain

"They beat us by scoring 11-for-25 threes and they outrebounded us. They are very strong, they have many good athletes and shooters. You don't need to play against a team every year to know their players. Especially if you have the scouting report and play against several guys in domestic competitions. We probably have to learn for the next back-to-back to be a little more accurate in our game preparation." - Spain coach Sergio Scariolo 

 
FIBA