Basketball World Ranking 2023 – Europe – second_round_groups – working day 5
The Spanish team, already with a place won for the 2023 World Cup, added a hard-fought victory in Reykjavik on the penultimate day of the second qualifying round that allows them to remain the sole leader of group L, against an Iceland that could not hold the drip from his rival’s triples despite risking part of his options to be at the event this summer.
Led by Luis Guil when Sergio Scariolo had a match this Friday with Virtus Bologna, the Spanish team controlled the match at all times and did so largely supported by a good percentage of three-pointers (14 of 25) that allowed them to contain the first attempt of the locals to get ahead and their final arreón to force a tight finish.
Miquel Salvó was, with 18 points, the top scorer for a team that saw Jaume Sorolla make his international debut. At the start, the direction of Alberto Díaz and the points of Juan Núñez propelled Spain, but Iceland held the pull feeding Triggvy Hlinason and the Zaragoza center fulfilled in the pick-ups after his direct blocks (13-14, m.7) .
Spain’s good aim from the 3-point line, from where they made five of their first seven shots, kept them ahead. But when the locals added to their repertoire some impetuous penetrations and a triple by Jon Axel Gudmundsson they managed to re-engage (29-29, m.25).
Luis Guil put order with a timeout and, looking for Rubén Guerrero in the center of the area, Spain regained its mattress with six points in a row from the Andalusian interior, well supported by a fine-tuned Salvó.
The return of Núñez for the last minutes of the first half gave the Spanish team the freshness it lacked to open a small gap before the break (33-43, m.20). During the third quarter, five triples, more spaced at the beginning and more followed at the end, allowed the Spanish team to maintain control.
The Spanish team finished off with a triple by Salvó and another action by Joel Parra. On the last day, Scariolo’s men will play for the first final place with Italy in Cáceres.
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