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Slovakia are out, victory secures Eurobasket for Latvia

The Slovakian team have not won a match yet, and Latvia have not lost one. It's clear who the favorites are, and when we also know that a victory would practically secure Eurobasket for Latvia, their motivation grows

Slovakia can no longer hope to get to the Eurobasket as they have no more chances of advancing. With four losses in four matches, they are just going through the motions now. Four days ago they played away in Romania, but the home team beat them for the second time, despite them putting up a decent effort.

They entered the match with very good three point shooting and held 5 at halftime. A three pointer by Kozlik and free throws by Dorazil brought them their highest 12 lead, and victory smiled at them. However, Romania stepped up their defense, and they started struggling, which resulted in 74-74. Their crisis continued, and they allowed a 9-0 series that put them so far behind that they could not catch up in the time they had remaining.

They shot 10/33 for three points and their defense was not up to the task. The Romanian team shot 60,7% from the field, led by Jass with 17 points, Milošević with 15 with another 6 rebounds and assists, and Sedmak added 14 and 8 rebounds.

- This was a slightly crazy match in which we did not play defense. The fans lifted the Romanians in the crucial moments, and this brought them the victory. We tried being aggressive, but made too many mistakes in the final moments- said coach Cernicky.

- We played a great 30 minutes, but were not ourselves in the last 10. We tried to play well on defense, but could not make it work, and that was our main problem. It's frustrating, but we have to move on-said the best scorer for the away team, Marek Jass.

After three decisive victories, Latvia were hosting Sweden looking for two more points that would practically secure the top spot and the Eurobasket appearance. This was by far their toughest match so far, and it took an extra five minutes to win as well. Now they are in a situation that even a loss today allows them to decide their fate in the last round, but one would believe they'd go for the important victory against the weakest team of the group today, which would give them the first spot unless they lost by more than 23 in the last round.

Latvia did not open the match well, and were at -8 by halftime. After the break Berzins and Blums started a 13-2 series by Latvia that brought them the long sought lead. The final moments were very exciting as they were 4 points behind at 64-60 with 47 seconds to go. Timma lowers it to -2, and Berzins' great block allows Latvia a shot to tie or take the lead. However with 3 seconds to go Strelnieks turns the ball over and fouls Person, who makes one free throw for a 3 lead for Sweden. The Swedes on the other side fouled Strelnieks with just 3 seconds to go. He makes the first free throw, misses the second, but home team's Meiers catches the rebound on offense, misses the bounce shot, while Berzins tips the ball in with the buzzer for extra time. This decided the match, as Latvia took the lead right away, and did not lose it for the final score of 77-76.

Berzins was the hero for his team, scoring 23 points and getting 10 rebounds, while Strelnieks scored 14 with 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

- We did not play badly, but we must do better on defense. Sweden punished our errors, and we were not composed on offense. In the end we got lucky in regular time, but I believe only a mentally strong team can win a close match such as this one- commented coach Bagatkis.

They already beat Slovakia 20 in the second round, and another win would put them one foot into the Eurobasket.