Russia misses out on chance to qualify for World Champ

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Published: 20 September, 2009, 11:42

Croatia's Kresimir Loncar (Front) vies with Russia's Kelly Mc Carty during their 2009 European Championship Basketball (Photo / Janek Skarzynski)

TAGS: Sport, Basketball

The misery continues for Russia's basketball team at Eurobasket in Poland. After a quarterfinal knockout at the hands of Serbia, David Blatt’s team lost 76-69 to Croatia on Saturday.

The more or less equal game was decided in the very last minutes. Croatia were hanging on to a slight lead 70-67 and after a tough defensive stop, Ukic caught a crosscourt pass and downed a three-pointer from the left side to push the lead to 73-67 with just more than a minute to play. The Balkan side made three out of four foul shots in the final 19 seconds to finish off the victory.

All in all, Croatia made 5 of 10 three-pointers while shooting 49 percent for the game – nine points better than Russia's opponent field goal percentage for the tournament.

“That was a hard game, a hard fought game. They were more experienced and made better plays at the end of the game. And that's understandable given the age and experience of their players,” Russia’s head coach David Blatt, whose men beat Croatia 62-59 in the Qualifying Round, told the tournament’s official website.

“We missed our opportunities that we should have converted. The game could have gone either way. Just like the first one. This one just went to them.”

The loss means Russia won’t finish in fifth or sixth place and subsequently will not automatically qualify for next year’s world championships. However, David Blatt’s men still have the chance of making it to the event in Turkey through the backdoor if they are given one of three wildcards by the world basketball governing body, FIBA.

Meanwhile, it’s up to Spain and Serbia to decide who will get the gold in Poland after they beat Greece and Slovenia respectively.