The FC Bayern Munich point guard and the FC Barcelona power forward combined for 48 points
Kamar Baldwin, Toko Shengelia send Georgia to the quarterfinals
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Georgia reached the EuroBasket quarterfinals for the first time by downing France 70-80 in Riga, Latvia, on Sunday. Georgia is set to face Finland in the next round, and the winner will advance to the semifinals. It is its biggest win ever, as Georgia's best-ever finish in international competitions was an 11th-place finish at EuroBasket 2011. Georgia led for the best part of the game, and its best players stepped up at the right time to make the difference.
Kamar Baldwin of FC Bayern Munich allowed Georgia to keep a slim lead throughout the game, attacking the rim with great determination and burying critical shots when it mattered most. When France got a 35-33 lead near halftime, Baldwin followed a step-back triple with a driving layup to put Georgia back ahead, 37-38, at halftime. Once France rallied from a nine-point deficit to tie it at 66-66, Baldwin scored in penetration to put Georgia ahead.
Baldwin got plenty of help from Toko Shengelia of FC Barcelona in crunch time. Shengelia buried a couple of critical three-pointers, adding free throws and feeding Goga Bitadze for a two-handed dunk that sealed the outcome, 70-78, with 30 seconds remaining. Shengelia played his best game of the tournament until now, finishing it with 24 points on 3 of 4 three-pointers, 8 rebounds and a PIR of 24. Baldwin also had 24 points on 5 of 6 two-pointers, 3 of 4 three-pointers and 5 of 5 free throws. Zalgiris playmaker Sylvain Francisco led France with 14 points.
It was a special win for Shengelia, whose commitment to the Georgian national team throughout his entire career has been simply outstanding. "In a pre-game meeting, starting from coach, we said that we were going to play to win. We were happy to be here, but were not satisfied. And the only way we were going to do that was to play a 40-minute game, starting from the first minute. As you saw, we never stopped fighting, we never stopped believing," Shengelia said in the press conference room. "And even at halftime, it was very crucial for us to come out very concentrated because we knew France were going to come out swinging, and we had to be prepared and even put higher our intensity, which we did. I am very, very proud of my teammates. Everybody, man. I don't want to miss anybody. You see the guys on the bench, they are jumping up and down: almost every game, we see the technical fouls. That's how much we cheer for each other."
"If we go out there and play with only X and Os, there are not a lot of teams that we might beat, but if you combine that with the unity, and how we believe in each other, fighting for each other, it doesn't matter if you have zero points or you have 20 points... every time we played like that, we won the game.
And every time we didn't, we lost the game. So it's like coach [Aleksandar Dzikic] says all the time, it's mostly about us. It doesn't matter who we play.
Finland eliminated Serbia last night. Georgia beat France and is going against Finland for a semifinals spot. Expect the unexpected at EuroBasket 2025.