For the second night in a row, EuroLeague and EuroCup stars shined bright for their national teams. (PHOTO: Carol Moir/FIBA)
Continental qualifiers roundup: Nelson's double-double led Great Britain
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Dozens of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and BKT EuroCup players took the floor on four different continents on Friday, and were in main roles as they were trying to help their national teams get to a good start in the qualifiers, each with a goal of reaching final tournament.
EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers
In Group E, France with eight players coming from EuroLeague clubs, downed Croatia that featured three EuroLeague players. France protected its home court in Brest, winning 73-61 as Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne paced the winners with 15 points. Matthew Strazel of AS Monaco scored 12, Guerschon Yabusele of Real Madrid had 11 points and 5 rebounds, while Mathias Lessort of Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens had 10 points for France. One the other end, Real's Mario Hezonja had 22 points leading Croatia, while Jaleen Smith of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade added 13 in defeat.
In the other game of Group E, Bosnia and Herzegovina cruised to a 66-99 road win against Cyprus. Real's Dzanan Musa scored 16 of his 26 points in the first half, and also had 8 assists and 5 rebounds for the night. Buducnost VOLI Podgorica center Kenan Kamenjas collected 13 points and 10 rebounds in a victory.
In Group F, Greece with its nine EuroLeague players downed Czech Republic 72-64 in Piraeus. Konstantinos Mitoglou of Panathinaikos led Greece with 22 points and 7 rebounds, while Olympiacos Piraeus duo of Kostas Papanikolaou and Thomas Walkup each scored 16. Walkup flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 8 assists and 8 rebounds, and Papanikolaou also grabbing 8 rebounds as EuroLeague Legend Vassilis Spanoulis made his debut in a role of Greece national team head coach. for the visitors, Ondrej Balvin of EuroCup side Prometey Slobozhanske had a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, while FC Barcelona's Tomas Satoransky collected 9 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in a loss.
In that same group, Great Britain held off the Netherlands 98-94 as London Lions point guard Luke Nelson orchestrated British offense with 12 assists, while also scoring 14 points. Joventut's Yannick Kraag had 11 points in defeat.
In Group G, Serbia rallied to beat Finland 77-61. Luka Mitrovic of Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade led the way with 19 points and 9 rebounds, while Partizan's Aleksa Avramovic had 18 points. Olympiacos center Filip Petrusev collected 8 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in a victory. Mikael Jantunen of EuroCup Playoff top seed Paris Basketball led all Finland's scorers with 11 points. In the other game of this group, Denmark beat Georgia 75-69.
In Friday's only Group H game, Estonia went on the road to beat North Macedonia 69-74. Maik Kotsar of Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz had 16 points in a victory. For the hosts, Dreaamland Gran Canaria big man Ethan Happ collected 18 points and 10 rebounds. In the first game of this group, Lithuania beat Poland on Thursday.
AmeriCup 2025 qualifiers
Argentina held off Chile 90-78 to start off its Group A campaign. Nicolas Brussino, of last year's BKT EuroCup champion Dreamland Gran Canaria, led the way with 19 points. Real Madrid's Gabriel Deck and Facundo Campazzo dominated, as Deck had a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds while Campazzo had 15 points and 8 assists. FC Bayern Munich guard Leandro Bolmaro had 7 points in a victory.
In Group D, United States beat Cuba 100-79, and the visitors had Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv center Jasiel Rivero collect 16 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds in a loss.
AfroBasket 2025 qualifiers
Friday marked the start of the AfroBasket qualifiers. Cote d'Ivore opened Group C action with a 77-69 win over Madagascar in which Alex Poythress of EA7 Emporio Armani Milan dominated with 26 points, making 10 of 12 two-point shots, with 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
Joventut Badalona's Shannon Evans played all 40 minutes and had 26 points and 6 rebounds in Guinea's 76-70 road loss against Angola in Group E.