The Slovenian basketball team has advanced to the quarterfinals of the European Championship in Riga. They defeated Italy 84:77 (29:11, 50:40, 72:56), and will face Germany on Wednesday, September 10. Luka Dončić shone again, scoring 42 points. Dončić was the best player in the first half with a jump shot. He scored 30 points, five rebounds and one assist.
The Slovenian national team was in the lead for most of today's match. The Italians only led in the first minutes, but then our team took the initiative and led until the end of the match. In the end of the match, the Italians came dangerously close (they were only a point behind), but the Slovenian national team was collected and brought the match to a successful end.
Slovenia often in the quarterfinals
This was Slovenia's fourth consecutive victory at this championship and its eighth top-8 finish in the last nine European Championships. They were eliminated before the quarter-finals only in 2015 in France.
Slovenia has maintained its 100% record at European Championships with Italy - it has won all four matches this century, but its worst performance in recent times has been against its opponent in the quarter-finals. The current world champions, the Germans, defeated them in the World Championship qualifiers in Okinawa, and they also convincingly won both warm-up matches this summer in Stožice and Mannheim.
