The Croatia basketball team lost to the Netherlands 57:65 in the Eurobasket qualifiers on Saturday. However, Croatia has already qualified for the European Championship and will play the final game of the tournament against Turkey on Monday.
After the Netherlands initially led 2:0, Croatia equalized and only increased their advantage. After seven minutes of play, they led +7, 11:4. Mršić’s team also had an advantage of 13 points, 19:6, and they finished the first quarter at 19:11.
Although they were equal in the second quarter (16:16), Croatia managed to keep the advantage from the first quarter and went into halftime with a score of 35:27.
In the third quarter, the Netherlands played harder and reduced the gap to 43:44, and with a three-pointer, they took the lead at 49:48. The Netherlands continued ahead in the decisive quarter in which they lead +6, 54:48.
In the first match of the 5th round in Group D, Turkey defeated Sweden 88:80 in Istanbul and remained in the game to qualify for the final tournament. Sengun with 24 points and Tuncer with 19 was the best for Turkey, while Jerebko led Sweden with 21 points.
Croatia leads the group and has already qualified for EuroBasket 2022. The three best national teams will qualify for the final tournament.
Standings
1. Croatia 5 4 1 364-314 9
2. The Netherlands 5 3 2 345-340 8
3. Turkey 5 2 3 368-389 7
4. Sweden 5 1 4 371-405 6
In the last round, scheduled for Monday, February 22, Sweden-Netherlands (15:00) and Turkey-Croatia (18:00) will meet.
Source: HRT
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