Belgium stun Serbia in a postponed game to take 2nd place in Group A / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Belgium (4-2) ended the game with a stunning 13-2 run to defeat Serbia (3-3) on their home court 74-73 (23-21, 15-17, 15-22, 21-13) in the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.

Serbia / Schedule

Latvia Serbia66-59 Serbia Belgium73-74

Serbia held a comfortable 10-point lead with just under 5 minutes to go in the 4th quarter when Belgium decided that the game is not over yet. First, Maxime De Zeeuw stole the ball to gift a fast break that ended in an easy layup. Then, he made a three-pointer to cut the deficit down to only five (66-71).

Moments later, one more triple by Emmanuel Lecomte pushed the Belgians within two (69-71). Serbia was unable to answer Belgium's push on the other side, and Lecomte's and-one layup evened the score with two minutes to go. A successful free throw gave Belgium its first lead since the second quarter.

Ognjez Jaramaz was fouled while shooting a three-pointer but made only two of his free throws, meaning, Serbia had a slim one-point lead heading into the final minute of the match. It was Emmanuel Lecomte's time again.

The Belgian guard converted a driving layup to take the lead for the away squad. Vanja Marinkovic's triple was no good, gifting Belgium its fourth win in the tournament and leaving Serbia in third place in Group A.

Ismael Bako was the top scorer on the Belgium team with 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting while also adding 6 rebounds for 19 PIR. The game's hero Emmanuel Lecomte added 16 points.

Vanja Marinkovic was the leader of the Serbian squad with 14 points, making 4 triples out of 8.

Serbia: Vanja Marinkovic 14 (4/8 3PT), Nemanja Bjelica 12 (5/8 FT, 6 REB), Aleksa Avramovic 11.

Belgium: Ismael Bako 17 (6/10 2PT, 6 REB), Emmanuel Lecomte 16 (3/6 2PT, 3/5 3PT, 4 REB), Retin Obasohan 16 (4/5 2PT, 1/6 3PT, 6 AST).

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