Croatian stars shine in Poland, Dimitrijevic wins it at buzzer for North Macedonia
MUNICH (Germany) - Croatia needed their top stars to have big games as they opened their FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers with a hard-fought victory at Poland.
MUNICH (Germany) - Croatia needed their top stars to have big games as they opened their FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers with a hard-fought victory at Poland while Nenad Dimitrijevic's buzzer beater from beyond halfcourt got North Macedonia past Denmark.
Croatian NBA big man Ivica Zubac collected 19 points and 10 rebounds, Bojan Bodgandovic tallied 16 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, Mario Hezonja had 10 points including two big three-pointers late and Dario Saric chipped in 9 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists in a 72-69 victory over Poland.
In a showdown of the two strongest teams in the Pre-Qualifiers, Hezonja's second of back-to-back triples made it 68-64 inside the 2-minute mark. But the game wasn't decided until Zubac hit two free throws with 42 seconds left and Jaleen Smith added two foul shots with 12 seconds to play.
Croatia earned the big road victory to start play in Group E while Poland can be happy it was only a three-point loss - thanks in large part to Mateusz Ponitka scoring 26 points with 6 rebounds and 6 assists.
The other game in Group E saw Switzerland beat Austria 74-64 at home with Robert Zinn leading the way with 14 points.
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Group D saw a thrilling finish with Dimitrijevic heaving it in from beyond half-court to give North Macedonia a 73-70 victory at Denmark. Dimitrijevic poured in 29 points in leading the way for the Balkan nation. Dario Jukic's 20 points were not enough for Denmark in a tight game throughourt with neither team leading by more than eight points.
Harald Frey was the standout in the other Group D game with 37 points in Norway's 87-68 win at Slovakia.
Portugal were the story of Group F with Neemias Queeta picking up 20 points and 10 rebounds and Rafael Lisboa scoring 17 points in a 75-59 triumph in Romania.
Bulgaria also opened Group F with a win as Aleksandar Vezenkov scored 24 points in an 88-55 win over FIBA EuroBasket 2025 co-hosts Cypurs.
The teams will return to action on Sunday with the second set of Pre-Qualifiers games in the window.
FIBA