Perfect Croatia hit century mark; Portugal and North Macedonia also undefeated

MUNICH (Germany) - Croatia shook off early woes in Austria, running away for a comfortable win in front of what felt like mostly Croatian crowd in the stands. Portugal and North Macedonia also improved to 3-0, in impressive fashion too, especially when it comes to the latter.

In Group D, North Macedonia put on a defensive clinic in the battle of two undefeated teams coming into the November window. They went on to hand Norway a 58-36 defeat in Gevgelija, not allowing anything to go through the hoop on their end of the floor.

Harald Frey averaged 25.5 points per game in his previous six appearances, but coach Aleksandar Jonchevski found the cure for the poison, holding Frey to 3-of-13 shooting, including 0-of-7 from deep on the night, allowing him just 11 points.

Bojan Krstevski picked up a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double to lead the offensive charge, Vojdan Stojanovski also had 14, the duo nearly outscoring the entire opposing squad.

Also in Group D, Slovakia and Denmark played a game in which nobody will be happy with the final score. The hosts had an 18-point lead with just five minutes left to play, but Denmark had one last run in them to close the margin to 74-70.

Slovakia blew a chance to win by double digits, Denmark dropping to 0-3 despite their comeback. Vladimir Brodziansky scored 23 for the winners, while Mario Ihring posted 16 points and 12 assists. Darko Jukic had 21 in a losing effort.

In Group E, Croatia and Poland were both victorious, setting up the biggest clash of the Pre-Qualifiers. Croatia defeated Austria on the road 100-75 behind Roko Badzim's 23 points, overcoming early troubles and a 7-point deficit.

Dario Dreznjak had 18, Toni Perkovic added 17 off the bench for coach Aleksandar Petrovic, who witnessed Roko Prkacin in fine shape, too. The MVP of the FIBA U16 European Championship in 2018 dominated the first half, and picked up 15 points in 16 minutes on the court.

Poland were a different team after the break in their matchup with Switzerland. The visitors had a 5-point lead at the half, but a 27-8 third quarter paved the way for coach Igor Milicic and the hosts of the FIBA EuroBasket 2025.

It finished 79-54; Aleksander Balcerowski had 13 points and 6 rebounds before fouling out, Michal Sokolowski scored nine of his 13 points from the free throw line, while Lukasz Kolenda finished with 10 on the day to move Poland to 2-1.

Croatia are up at 3-0 with a three-point advantage from the first fixture in Poland. The return fixture will be played in Zagreb on Sunday.

Portugal are now the only perfect squad in Group F after their 88-78 triumph over previously unbeaten Bulgaria. Chavdar Kostov with 17 and David Kravish with 14 were the main threats coming from the Bulgarian side of the floor, but Portugal found their way to the paint to win this one.

Mario Gomes' men won the paint points 40-24, and shot 25-of-36 from inside the arc to protect home court. Travante Williams and Rafael Lisboa combined for 36 points on the night, while Diogo Brito did a bit of everything on Thursday, 19 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal.

Cyprus' struggles continued at home, as Romania stole a 69-65 win in Nicosia, keeping the hosts winless and climbing to 1-2 in this group. They are on the road again on Sunday, playing against Portugal in Coimbra, and if they want to pull off an upset, they are going to need Patrick Richard to stay in this mood - 12 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds for the U-BT Cluj Napoca legend.

FIBA