17/08/2014 C/6 Germany – Luxembourg, Trier Arena 109-49 (29-17, 26-18, 27-5, 27-9)
Germany registered on Sunday their second consecutive win in EuroBasket 2015 2nd Qualifying Round Group C in impressive fashion, as they dominated Luxembourg 109-49 at home.
The Germans have now improved to 2-1 in the group standings, while Luxembourg have recorded their third straight loss.
Luxembourg claimed a short-lived 9-7 lead after the opening exchanges but Maik Zirbes levelled the scores with a lay-up, Robert Benzing made it 11-9 for Germany with 6:09 remaining in the first quarter and the hosts would pull away at a steady pace after that.
Germany, who completely closed down the paint and out-rebounded their guests 53 to 13, scored an eye-rolling 60 points from close to the rim.
The hosts, who maintained their free-scoring form throughout the encounter, led 55-35 at the half-time break and out-scored their guests 27-5 in the third quarter to extend the gap to 72-40 and effectively secure the win with an entire quarter to spare.
All 12 players on the German squad saw action on the floor and wrote their name on the scoreboard and in fact the German offence was so well-balanced that no less than five players finished with 12 points each for the winners.
Emir Mutapcic, Germany Head Coach
"I am pleased with our attitude today. We lost our concentration for only a very few minutes. We are living from our basics: play hard, defence and rebounds. Some things we did well tonight, some not. We have to be even more concentrated on Wednesday when we want to beat Poland by more than one point."
Maik Zirbes, Germany
"It was difficult to find our rhythm into the game tonight. We were not concentrated in many parts of the game in the opening minutes. But then we showed emotions, because we wanted to make a bang today. We all agreed that we could not play again the way like we did in Austria. Never again!"
Franck Mériguet, Luxembourg Head Coach
"Even though we are losing by a lot, it is a good experience for our players. They are learning a lot in this qualification. Congrats to Germany, they have a very good team."
Alex Laurent, Luxembourg
"We are all semi pros, we have students, workers, even pupils on our team. Today we could not find anything against their bigs. We did not have any chance in rebounding and in defending them. But we will continue working hard and playing the best teams in Europe."
13/08/2014 C/4 Luxembourg – Poland, Coque/Gymnase 61-113 (10-26, 17-23, 24-39, 10-25)
Poland picked up their second win in EuroBasket 2015 2nd Qualifying Round Group C in triumphant fashion on Wednesday, as they enjoyed an 113-61 rout of Luxembourg on the road.
Seven players scored in double digits for Poland, who kept pushing hard until the final buzzer and out-rebounded Luxembourg 38 to 13, while shooting an amazing 79% (34-for-43) from two-point range and 54.5% (12-for-22) from beyond the three-point arc.
The hosts were in fighting mood during the opening exchanges and led the way in the first minutes of the encounter but a Mateusz Ponitka lay-up on the fast break sparked a 14-0 Polish run to close the first quarter and the guests never looked back.
Poland led 49-27 at the half-time break but poured in 25 points in the final six-minute stretch of the third quarter and the gap ballooned to 88-51.
Szymon Szewczyk finished with 20 points on eight-for-eight from two-point range, Ponitka collected 15 points while Damian Kulig had 14 points and seven rebounds for the winners.
For Luxembourg, Christopher Jones had 16 points and Bob Melcher added 12 points in a losing effort.
Franck Meriguet, Luxembourg Head Coach
"We are physically not strong and tall enough to compete with such teams. I saw however good things on our team, we just have to adjust some small points on offence. For defence, we are simply not tall and strong enough. But I am very satisfied with the team spirit. Now we know that Austria is warned and it is going to be hard against them. Germany is surely out of reach."
Alex Rodenbourg, Luxembourg
"We had a good start and even led in the first minutes. But then they adjusted and we could not score from inside any more, no more fast-breaks and we were missing our shots. So we got a 25-0 run. That killed us. We are too small and not strong enough."
Mike Taylor, Poland Head Coach
"I am satisfied with the effort we showed. We played good on defence, that was important. The guys moved the ball well, so that we found the right guy to score. Physically we were of course stronger, but you should never underestimate another team."
Szymon Szewczyk, Poland
"I told the team from the beginning that we have to play hard on defence, because we knew that Luxembourg could be able to score points. We saw it in the second half against Austria. So even if we led, I told the guys to play hard. Our goal was 50 points; we did it as a team, a team effort. But no offence to Luxembourg, it is a team with a very good fighting and team spirit."
10/08/2014 C/1 Austria – Luxembourg, Multiversum/Schwechat 84-76 (30-14, 21-13, 19-22, 14-27)
Austria raced to a 29-point third-quarter lead over Luxembourg at home and finally settled for an 84-76 win after a late rally by the guests on Day 1 of EuroBasket 2015 2nd Qualifying Round Group C action.
The hosts used an 11-0 run midway through the opening quarter to claim their first double-digit lead, 19-8, and extended the gap to 30-14 by the end of the period.
Luxembourg shot reasonably well from three-point range (13-for-29) but were punished severely whenever they were not careful with the ball.
Austria came up with 16 steals and scored 22 points off the 21 turnovers of their guests and the gap ballooned to 61-32 on a Rasid Malhabasic lay-up with 6:59 remaining to the end of the third frame.
The Austrians took their foot off the gas somewhat while the gutsy Luxembourg side kept up the fight until the final buzzer and scored 24 points in the final six minutes of the encounter to reduce the point differential to eight points.
Thomas Schreiner finished with a team-high 16 points for the winners, Mahalbasic added 14 points and 10 rebounds while Enis Murati and Anton Maresch had 12 points, as five Austrian players scored in double digits.
For Luxembourg, Tom Schumacher had a game-high 19 points and Jairo Delgado added 17 points in defeat.
Werner Sallomon, Austria Coach
"Incredible, I can not understand my teams performance in the second half."
Thomas Schreiner, Austria
"First half was good, second really bad. What counts is the win."
Franck Meriguet, Luxembourg Coach
"The conclusion is, why did we need 20 minutes to come into that game? After half-time we played aggressive defence and fast-breaks. You cannot win a game giving up 51 points in two quarters. But the second half was very interesting."
Christopher Jones, Luxembourg
"We had a bad time in the first half defensively. But we came back in the second half, moving the ball well and getting some open shots"
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EuroBasket 2015 – 2nd Qualifying Round 2014: Luxembourg Group C
