Filipovic's 29 points rescue Croatia over Sweden in 2OT thriller and give hope for next phase / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Croatia(1-3) slipped by Sweden (2-2) 105-98 (14-21, 12-20, 24-18, 29-10, 9-9, 17-10) in the double-overtime drama to get their first victory of Group C.

Croatia / Schedule

Croatia Sweden64-70 Sweden Croatia98-105

Even though Sweden was in the third quarter by 15 points (46-31), Croatia managed to climb out of the dip in the last 10 minutes of the game.

The Balcanic country arranged an 11-0 spurt and retook game control in their hands (73-70). Despite that, Croatians were the ones, who needed to rescue themselves.

Ludvig Hakanson made two free throws to put his team in front by 2 points (79-77) with 27 seconds to play. However, Filip Krsulin made a driving layup and tied the game at 79 with 5 seconds on the clock. Both national teams went into overtime.

After Viktor Gaddefors' two-point basket, Sweden had plus three (88-85) with 32 seconds to go in the additional 5 minutes but Goran Filipovic nailed a clutch triple (88-88), while Ivan Ramljak blocked the last shot by Ludvig Hakanson. The second overtime.

Croatia took the upper hand at the start of the second overtime (96-90) and did not release their initiative.

For the victorious squad, Goran Filipovic went off with 29 points (5/11 2PT, 5/5 3PT, 4/9 FT), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 29 PIR.

Ludvig Hakanson had a game-high 31 points (3/5 2PT, 6/10 3PT, 7/9 FT), 3 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 turnovers, and 28 PIR.

Croatia: Goran Filipovic 29 (5 REB, 4 AST), Filip Kruslin 21 (6 AST), Karlo Matkovic 16 (13 REB), Zeljko Sakic 11 (7 REB), Ivan Ramljak 10 (5 REB).

Sweden: Ludvig Hakanson 31 (7 AST, 5 TO), Viktor Gaddefors 16, Tobias Borg 16 (5 AST), Jonas Jerebko 16 (5 REB), Simon Birgander 12 (18 REB).

Highlights

Thank you for reading us! Help us even more.