Dončić’s 42 lifts Slovenia past Italy; Georgia knocks out France at EuroBasket
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Luka Doncic erupted for 42 points and 10 rebounds, steering Slovenia to an 84-77 victory over Italy on Sunday in the EuroBasket round of 16 and earning a quarterfinal clash with reigning World Cup champion Germany.
Slovenia sprinted to a 29-11 cushion after one quarter, and Doncic had already piled up 30 points by halftime—his fourth 30-plus outing of the tournament. Italy roared back late, trimming the deficit to 78-77 with just under two minutes remaining, but the Dallas Mavericks star iced the game by hitting four straight free throws to surpass the 40-point mark.
Georgia reaches first quarterfinal, ousts France
Georgia booked its maiden trip to the EuroBasket quarterfinals with an 80-70 upset of 2022 runner-up France in Riga, Latvia. Forward Tornike Shengelia powered the win with 24 points and eight rebounds, while American-born guard Kamar Baldwin matched him with 24 points.
France, playing without Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier, shot just 6-for-36 (16.7%) from beyond the arc. Point guard Sylvain Francisco led Les Bleus with 14 points; Guerschon Yabusele was held to 12. The loss ends France’s campaign before the quarterfinal stage for the first time since 2017. Georgia will meet Finland, which eliminated Serbia on Saturday.
Other round-of-16 results
- Poland defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina 80-72 behind Jordan Loyd’s 28 points and Mateusz Ponitka’s 19-point, 11-rebound double-double. Utah Jazz center Jusuf Nurkic paced Bosnia with 20 points and seven boards. Poland advances to face Turkey.
- Greece faced Israel later Sunday, with the winner set to play three-time champion Lithuania.
The quarterfinals are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, and the championship game is next Sunday.
Source: ESPN
