February 24, 2020 – The Croatia basketball team beat the Netherlands away 69:59 in the second round of EuroBasket qualifications.
It was a duel of two teams that won the first round of Group D. While Croatia celebrated at home against a weak Sweden, the Netherlands shocked Turkey with an away win.
The Croatia basketball team and the Netherlands played in qualifiers for the last World Cup in China. Croatia’s defeat in the first round was the beginning of the Croatian basketball downfall. The Netherlands, on the other hand, has progressed year after year.
After desperate past qualifications, Veljko Mrsic led a team that looked good in their debut against Sweden. Croatia finally had harmony and chemistry between the players again in the locker room. The approach was right after a long time. The defense was perfect, and the attack was played fast and easy.
The Netherlands led after the first quarter, with Croatia leading 38:35 at halftime, followed by the fall of Veljko Mršić’s team in the third leg and a period in which only 9 points were scored.
In the last 10 minutes, however, Croatia rose to the occasion and eventually celebrated by 10 points.
Croatia’s most efficient player was Ukic with 14 points, Dreznjak scored 13 and Planinic scored 12. The most efficient for the Netherlands was Franke with 11 points, while Kloof and Van der Vuurts each scored 10 points.
With this victory, Croatia has made a big step towards qualifying for the EuroBasket.
Recall, Croatia defeated Sweden 72:56 (18: 6, 23:14, 17:25, 14:11) in the first round of the Group D qualifiers for EuroBasket 2021. Turkey and Sweden are also in Group D.
EuroBasket 2021 will be held in Georgia, the Czech Republic, Italy and Germany. The three first-place teams will qualify for the EuroBasket.
Lineups
Netherlands: Charlon Kloof, Yannick Franke, Worthy de Jong, Mohamed Kherrazi, Jito Kok
Croatia: Roko Ukić, Filip Krušlin, Mateo Drežnjak, Željko Šakić, Miro Bilan
Source: Index.hr
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