Thirteen teams of the Division "B" started some days ago their fight to qualify for the Eurobasket 2013 Qualifying Round. According to FIBA Europe there will be some "upcoming changes to the format of EuroBasket qualifying - which will scrap the divisional system and open the door to more teams -". We can also read that "the changes mean that this month's Division B campaign is about securing a good ranking to earn a better spot in the new-look qualification system, as promotion is now irrelevant". What happened in these first games? And what about the prospects? Austrian Rasid Mahalbasic ('90) made the best performance.

 

Group A:

-Luxembourg 73 Netherlands 94: Pitt Koster ('89) and his teamates couldn't win, with the point-guard scoring 3 points, grabbing 4 rebounds and making 2 steals. Jessey Voorn (''90), the best prospect at the other side with 5 points, 1 assist and 1 steal.

-Austria 93 Estonia 90: Rasid Mahalbasic ('90), MVP of the last U-20 Division "B" EC, collected a double-double for locals with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 1 assist. Rain Veideman ('91) finished with 7 points, 2 assists and 1 rebound for estonians.

 

Standings: Netherlands (1-0), Austria (1-0), Estonia (0-1) and Luxembourg (0-1).

 

Group B:

-Sweden 75 Belarus 66: Anton Saks ('89) made a good job for winners with 7 points, 5 boards and 1 steal.

-Albania 63 Azerbaijan 91: Kamal Muradov ('90) didn't play for the winners.

-Romania 70 Sweden 54: Adrian Gutoala ('90) didn't play for locals, while Anton Saks ('89) didn't score in 8 minutes (0/4 FG) for visitors, adding 1 assist and 1 steal.

-Belarus 94 Albania 76: No prospects.

-Azerbaijan 93 Belarus 79: Amil Hamzayev ('90) didn't waste his time at local squad with 6 points (2/3 from downtown) in 6 minutes.

-Albania 74 Romania 93: Local center Nikolin Arra ('91) played 2 minutes, while romanian Adrian Gutoala ('90) made 0/1 threes in 6 minutes.  

 

Standings: Romania (2-0), Azerbaijan (2-0), Belarus (1-2), Sweden (1-1) and Albania (0-3).

 

Group C:

-Cyprus 67 Switzerland 70: Christopher Razis ('89) played only 1 minute for locals, but enough to score 5 points with 2/2 FG. For winners Jonathan Kazadi ('91) added 11 points, 7 boards and 1 steal.

-Slovak Republic 60 Czech Republic 65: Tomas Mrvis ('91) played 6 minutes for hosts (2 steals and 1 rebound), while czech Vojtech Hruban ('89) didn't play.

 

Standings: Czech Republic (1-0), Switzerland (1-0), Cyprus (0-1) and Slovak Republic (0-1).

 

Photo: FIBA Europe / Andreas Klinger / ÖBV