November 29, 2020 – By defeating Sweden in the Istanbul bubble on Sunday evening, Croatia basketball qualifies for EuroBasket 2022.
The Croatian basketball team celebrated 87:72 against Sweden in Istanbul in their fourth-round match of the 2022 European Championship qualifications. With their fourth victory in four games, they have secured their spot at the EuroBasket in two years.
Croatia was led by Marcinkovic, who scored 20 points and recorded eight rebounds.
After 14 and a half minutes of play, Croatia had a 35:23 advantage with a three-pointer by Filip Krušlin and had a 48:31 lead at halftime.
Croatia weakened a little at the beginning of the second half, but soon recovered and in the 26th minute, gained a 60:43 advantage. Ahead of the last quarter, Croatia was leading 68:53.
After a 19-point lead, Sweden reduced the result to 80:70 just before the last two and a half minutes. Croatia coach Veljko Mršić called a timeout to kick Croatia into gear in the final minutes. They immediately responded, and a three-pointer by Marčinković and two-pointer by Bilan took Croatia to 85:70, ultimately declaring the winner a minute and a half before the final buzzer.
No matter how they play in the last two rounds against Turkey and the Netherlands, even if Croatia loses both games, they will finish in one of the top three places in Group D in the qualifiers, leading directly to EuroBasket 2022.
The last qualifying round is scheduled for February 19-22, 2021, and three of the four national teams will win a place at EuroBasket, which will be held in 2022 (September 1-18). The hosts are the Czech Republic, Georgia, Italy, and Germany.
Source: HRT
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