The teams in Groups A and D can enjoy a day-off on Tuesday the 8th of September. These teams have all completed three games in the group stages so far but there is still an awful lot to play for when these sides return to action on Wednesday.
Group A
The results in Group A on 7th September were:
- Finland 81 – Russia 79
- Israel 84 – Bosnia & Herzegovina 86
- France 69 – Poland 66
Russia’s abysmal tournament continues but the Finnish side will not be worrying about that after they claimed a dramatic win in Group A on Monday. This was the ideal way to get the action started in the new week. Petteri Kopponen scored with 2 seconds left on the clock and this was the difference between the two teams in the end.
Overall, the lead changed hands 20 times and there were 15 ties in the game. There was no point in the game when a team led by more 7, which says it all about the closeness of this match. This is clearly not a Russian side at the peak of their powers but there is a lot to be said for the tenacity shown by the Finnish side in this game.
Russia are 0-3 in three games and are starting elimination in the face. The day off today may not be a bad thing for the Russians but perhaps they just want to get the whole tournament over and done with. Erik Murphy grabbed 19 points for Finland while Russia were boosted by Andrey Vorontsevich grabbing 13 points and 11 rebounds.
There was another close game, and another late finish, in the second game in Group A with Bosnia & Herzegovina sneaking past Israel. The Israelis managed to blow a 16 point lead and in the end, Elmedin Kikanovic popped up to prevent the match from heading into a second period of overtime. Yes, this game required OT to separate the teams and even that looked as though it wasn’t going to be enough until the winners stepped up and made the difference.
Omri Casspi picked up 29 points in the game while Alex Renfroe offered 12 points for Bosnia & Herzegovina, who finally grabbed a win in the group. Israel still sit second top, so they can carry on with confidence but they will be gutted at the nature of the loss.
It was also a tight one for the final game but the hosts had a winning margin of three points, the biggest winning margin of the day in the group! The four point margin of lead in the second quarter was all that France needed to separate the teams, and this win sees France out on their own as the only team with 6 points in the group, although Poland sit close behind on 5 points.
It was a great night for Tony Parker as he edged past Nico Galis as the all-time leading scorer at EuroBasket.
Have a look at our comprehensive FIBA EuroBasket 2015 Betting Guide. We encourage you to read this guide if you are new to – or want to know where to wager on this year’s European Basketball Championship.
Group D
The results in Group D on 7th September were:
- Lithuania 74 – Belgium 76
- Czech Republic 65 – Latvia 72
- Ukraine 71 – Estonia 78
After three games, Group D is mighty tight with four teams on 5 points, one team on 4 points and one team on three points. This is a group that is very much up for grabs.
Belgium managed a narrow win over Lithuania with Matt Lojeski sinking a buzzer beater to pull off a surprise result for the Belgians. No one really gave them a chance going into this one but the 22 points served up by Lojeski, including that late salvo, made the difference. Jonas Valanciunas provided 25 points and 12 rebounds for Lithuania who may be wondering how they managed to lose that game.
The hosts struggled in the opening quarter, with the Czech Republic looking as though they were very much in the mood but a strong second quarter made all the difference in this match-up. Latvia were boosted by the crowd and by Janis Blums who offered up 14 points. This may pale in comparison with the 22 points provided by Tomas Satoransky for the Czech Republic but the win is the most important thing. The Czech Republic still top the group at this stage, and won’t be too concerned about progressing from the group, but this result suggests that they still have a lot of work to do.
The big thing about the win in the last game was that it was the first that Estonia have claimed since 1993. This means that there would have been plenty of celebrations long into the night with their win over Ukraine.
Gregor Arbet offered up 26 points for the winners while the bets man for the losing side was Jerome Randle with 23 points. A 6-22 scoreline in the third quarter made all the difference which suggests that coach Tiit Sokk had an awful lot to say to his side at half-time and whatever he did say worked!
It may not have been a final that many people predicted in the build-up to the 2017 FIBA EuroBasket tournament but even with that in mind, there was a shock win. Slovenia have been crowned the Champions of Europe for the first time in their history and they were very much deserved winners on Sunday... 
With Spain falling short in the semi-final against Slovenia, who would eventually go on to take the title, this could have been a game that the Spaniards just wanted over and done with. Mind you, with Russia also involved in the third and fourth game for the Bronze medal, this would have been the Sunday... 
The 2017 EuroBasket tournament, the 40th EuroBasket tournament, begins on 31st of August 2017 and runs to the 17th of September. There are 24 teams taking part in the event which takes place across four different countries. This event is the first of the new cycle for EuroBasket tournaments, which sees the event taking place...