Skuja after victory over Austria: Finally felt the game
Latvia men's basketball team ended the first round of World Cup qualifiers with a convincing win over Austria. Toms Skuja said the team finally felt the game and accomplished their goal.
The Latvian men's national basketball team played their final game of the first round of the 2027 FIBA World Cup qualifiers on Monday in Riga, securing a dominant victory over Austria. After the match, player Toms Skuja expressed satisfaction with the team's performance and admitted that they finally felt the game.
"First of all, it's great that we won. Finally, I think we felt the game. Of course, you always feel it, but when you know it's +30 or whatever points, it feels good," Skuja said.
Latvia led by 12 points after the first half and extended the lead to +33 in the third quarter. Skuja noted that in the locker room, the team agreed to finish the round on a positive note, and they succeeded.
Skuja played just under 20 minutes in this game, scoring six points and dishing out ten assists. He did not play in the previous match against the Netherlands but got his chance this time and delivered a strong performance.
"We won the last game, so everything is fine; now I also got to play. Everything went very well; this window is 2-0. Of course, we wanted to beat the Netherlands by more, but it is what it is," Skuja added.
In Group F, Poland finished first with six wins in six games, Latvia has three wins, the Netherlands two, and Austria one. The top three teams from Group F, carrying over all results, will meet the top three from Group E (Germany, Croatia, Israel, Cyprus) in the second round. The three best teams from this group of six will qualify for the FIBA World Cup final tournament in Qatar.
