The second matchday of the second phase of European qualifying for the 2027 FIBA World Cup closed on Monday with six games and two major headlines: Turkey has secured its ticket and Spain has lost control of its group.
Turkey, Europe's First
Ergin Ataman's squad sealed qualification with a dominant performance in Iceland (110-73) that improved their record to 8-0. Onuralp Bitim and Cedi Osman led the scoring with 17 points each, in a team with six players in double figures. For Iceland, Martin Hermannsson and Kristinn Palsson finished with 11 apiece.
They are the first national team on the continent to secure a spot for Qatar, and they've done it without losing a single game throughout the entire qualifying process.
Ukraine Now Leads Spain's Group
The other big story of the day came in Podgorica. Ukraine defeated Montenegro 98-89 with 23 points from Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and 15 each from Oleksandr Kovliar and Dmytro Skapintsev, taking the lead in Group I. Yogi Ferrell was the best performer for the hosts with 22.
With Spain falling in overtime in Athens against Greece (108-106), the Ukrainians capitalize to take control. And Georgia continues to rise: they won 98-90 in Portugal, their second victory of the window, with another outstanding performance from Toko Shengelia (24 points) and 20 more from Sandro Mamukelashvili and Rati Andronikashvili. For Portugal, Neemias Queta posted 17 points and 11 rebounds, insufficient three days after the upset in Zaragoza.
Lithuania Resurges Without Its Stars
In Vilnius, the day's most impressive performance took place. Lithuania defeated Bosnia 78-73 without practically any of its key players: no Domantas Sabonis, no Matas Buzelis, no Jonas Valanciunas, and no Kasparas Jakucionis. Bosnia led for much of the first half, but the hosts turned the game around in the second half behind Azuolas Tubelis, the leading scorer with 23 points. Augustas Marciulionis added 16 and Gytis Radzevicius, 11. Jusuf Nurkic scored 20 for Bosnia and only Luka Garza joined him in double figures, with 14 points and seven rebounds.
The victory keeps Lithuania alive in the fight for a spot after a very poor start.
Serbia Wins the Direct Matchup
In Pesaro, Serbia took the qualifying derby against Italy 76-64. Nikola Jokic finished with eight points, but the world runners-up relied on 20 from Aleksa Avramovic and 19 from Marko Guduric. Nico Mannion scored 20 for the Italians.
It's the second consecutive game in which Jokic wins without scoring, and the second in which others take care of the scoring.