Categories: Sports

Markkanen and his 43 points catapult Finland, which will face Spain in the quarterfinals

The pivot was the best of the match and led his team in the victory (94-86) over Croatia

Poland, who got rid of Ukraine (86-94), meets Slovenia in the quarterfinals

MADRID, 11 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Finnish team beat Croatia (94-86) this Sunday in the round of 16 of the Eurobasket and will face Spain for a place in the semifinals, after the outstanding performance of center Lauri Markkanen, who finished the match with 43 points and a PIR of 47, while Poland continues in the tournament after getting rid of Ukraine (86-94), thanks to some good final minutes.

In the tournament with Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic or Giannis Antetokounmpo as proper names, Lauri Markkanen wanted to join the party and was unstoppable against Bojan Bogdanovic and Mario Hezonja’s Croatia. His 43 points and nine rebounds were the main argument to confirm Finland’s candidacy for the quarterfinals, with the Utah Jazz player as the most dangerous threat for Spain in the following tie this Tuesday at 5:15 p.m. in Berlin (Germany) .

Markkanen was the owner of the match from the beginning, supported by the triples (17) of his teammate Salin, very successful this Sunday. Croatia, who won the first quarter (20-21), could only keep up until the break, with more prominence from Saric (12 points) and Bogdanovic (23).

However, the order and consistency of Finland, without much experience in major tournaments -they have only played one World Cup and in a Eurobasket their best result is sixth place-, were enough to continue their dream, with their NBA ‘stem’ as hope.

For their part, Poland won a game that was very close until the last five minutes, when Ponitka (22 points) and Sokolowski (13 points) emerged as heroes of the Polish team against Ukraine. With a final score of 86-94, nationalized point guard AJ Slaughter was key with 24 points and 5 rebounds.

Although the duel started evenly, Poland showed more accuracy in the first round, with a very successful Slaughter holding his team. However, Ukraine did not take their face from the game and always followed in the footsteps of their rival, taking the second quarter and reaching the break 45-42.

Same script after the restart, with Poland dominating and Ukraine entrusted to a seasoned Artem Pustovyi to reach the last and final quarter alive (67-69). With only one minute to play and 86-88 on the scoreboard, Poland decided in their favor from the free throw line, to place the final 86-94 and advance to the Eurobasket quarterfinals for the first time in the last 25 years. .

George Williams

George is a football fanatic, and he himself is a good football player. He does cover Football news from around the world, and share on Sportsfinding. He makes sure that the news content he creates are factually correct, and written in good English to meet the readers’ expectations.

Recent Posts

“18 days ago we were born again”

The miracle happened. The niece of Isabel Pantoja and David Rodríguez are already at home…

14 mins ago

Albert Rivera war against his eldest daughter’s mother with money in between: they are in court

Since Albert Rivera retired from politics in 2019, his name has continued to appear in…

2 hours ago

Neymar leaves the Hilal and approaches Santos

MADRID, 28 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) - Brazilian striker Neymar Jr. has terminated on Monday his…

3 hours ago

“We have given ourselves another chance”

Five months have passed since the player and the Italian model announced the end of…

4 hours ago

Carvajal: “Mbappé is a leader very clearly, it seems that he has been with us for five years”

MADRID, 27 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) - Real Madrid's footballer and the Spanish team Dani Carvajal…

5 hours ago

Paris dresses in luxury for Haute Couture Week

The Week of the Haute Couture of Paris starts. This Monday, the French capital burned…

6 hours ago