Romania beats Greece for first time in history; Ukraine and Lithuania also win
Romania recorded a historic first-ever victory over Greece in FIBA World Cup qualifiers, while Ukraine (coached by Ainars Bagatskis) and Lithuania (coached by Rimas Kurtinaitis) defeated Georgia and Great Britain respectively.
The third window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup European Qualifiers continued on Tuesday with several games, the biggest surprise being Romania's 73:66 home win over Greece – the first victory for Romania against Greece in history.
Meanwhile, Ukraine, led by head coach Ainars Bagatskis, beat Georgia 95:76 in Riga, and Lithuania, coached by Rimas Kurtinaitis, defeated Great Britain 105:85 in Klaipėda. Both teams have already secured their spots in the final qualifying stage.
For Ukraine, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk scored 28 points, Oleksandr Kovliar added 20, and Dmytro Skapintsev recorded a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Georgia's top scorer was Marquis Reed with 18 points.
Lithuania had Ažuolas Tubelis with 21 points, Jonas Valančiūnas with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and debutant Kasparas Jakucionis contributed 16 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Myles Hesson led Great Britain with 22 points.
Other Tuesday games: Spain vs. Denmark, Portugal vs. Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Turkey, Switzerland vs. Serbia, Italy vs. Iceland.
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