Susigengi stretched out in a tight spot and was able to pull off an 81-79 away win over Croatia in the last minute. Finland’s basketball players make it to the World Cup qualifiers from the powerhouses.
Finland’s basketball players defeated Croatia 81–71 (43-34) in the final match of the first group of the World Cup qualifiers and will start from the top positions in the further qualification, which starts in August with two opening matches.
In a basketball thriller Edon Maxhunin a three-pointer with 23 seconds left brought Finland within a point of Croatia, to 78-79. When Lovro Gnjidic missed both free throws, Finland had 13 more seconds to go for the winning basket. Lauri Markkanen sunk Petteri Koponen from the pass with his corner triple for the 81-79 winning basket 4.3 seconds before the decision.
Markkanen broke just one second before the end Ivica Zubac in a rebound situation and got his fifth foul, getting showered. Zubac had a chance to send Croatia to overtime by making two free throws. However, the NBA center of the LA Clippers missed his first throw, and Croatia did not get a rebound from the latter missed spot or the necessary attempt to score.
Croatia would have gone on with a win. The home team’s best scorers were Zubac and Bojan Bodganovic. Mario Hezonja scored 13 points. At the same time, Finland’s stretching sealed Sweden’s place in the next round.
With an away win against Rijeka, Susijengi gets from the top positions (5 wins – 1 loss) to the final stages of the six remaining World Cup qualifying rounds, where they will meet Israel, Estonia and Germany. The points of the initial group are included in the further qualification.
The best three of the six teams in the World Cup play-off group will advance to the 2023 World Cup held in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.
Men’s WC qualification, Rijeka, group C:
Croatia – Finland 79–81 (34-43)
Markkanen 19/7
Hall 14
Madsen 10/8
Valtonen 8/9
My max is 7/2/5s
Jantunen 6
Little 5
Palm 4
Koponen 3
Blacksmith 3
Final table of block C
Finland 6 5 1 11 p
Slovenia 6 4 2 10 p
Sweden 6 2 4 8 p
Croatia 6 1 5 7 p
The matches of the initial group remain valid in the follow-up series.
Finland 5-1
Germany 5-1
Slovenia 4-2
Israel 3-3
Estonia 2-4
Sweden 2-4
The WC further qualification starts in August. Finland will face Israel, Estonia and Germany twice. The best three of the six teams reach the World Championships. Finland has never yet progressed through the qualifiers to the World Cup tournament.