The Baltic nation beat a fellow Baltic state in Lithuania for the first time ever (PHOTO: Hendrik Osula/FIBA)
Maik Kotsar was instrumental in guiding Estonia to a historic win
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It is often said that the third time’s the charm, but for Estonia, it proved to be ninth time lucky as it hosted Lithuania in the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers. On a night of many good performances, Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz’s Maik Kotsar certainly made his presence felt.
Estonia ended up coming away with a 65-59 win against Lithuania after losing its previous eight contests against its Baltic rival, with a passionate crowd inside Tallinn’s Unibet Arena spurring the team on. Impressively, this triumph came just three days after Friday night’s 69-74 victory on the road at North Macedonia, a game in which Kotsar scored a joint team-high 16 points.
Kotsar's telling impact against Lithuania
On Monday night, Kotsar was once again one of the main scorers for Estonia, netting 11 points, while teammates Janari Joesaar and Siim-Sander Vene finished with 18 and 13, respectively. Yet, it was Kotsar’s work on the glass that was the most notable of his display, as he grabbed 13 rebounds to give him a double-double.
Those 13 boards came thanks to 7 on the defensive end and 6 under Lithuania’s own basket, which resulted in many second-chance opportunities for his teammates. Then, late in the game, Kotsar drew a charge with 19 seconds left on the clock to all but wrap up the victory.
Baskonia teammate Sander Raieste had an interesting night, too, even if he did finish with 0 points. The small forward found a way to contribute, as he often does with Baskonia, by pulling down 5 rebounds, including 2 on the offensive end, dishing 4 assists, making 1 steal and not turning the ball over once.
As a result of Estonia’s victory against Lithuania, and following North Macedonia’s win at Poland, Kotsar and co. are the only squad with a 100% record in Group H, which should put it in good stead when the second window commences in November.
Let’s see if Kotsar can make another winning impact when Baskonia travels to Turkiye to take on Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul on Friday night as the EuroLeague gets back underway.