MILAN (AP) — Ukraine held the lead for all of 55 seconds in its EuroBasket game against Estonia on Saturday.
They were the final 55 seconds.
Illya Sydorov’s layup gave Ukraine its first lead of the game, and the war-torn nation’s team moved to 2-0 in the European championship tournament by topping Estonia 74-73 in a Group C matchup.
“It’s a super important game for us,” Sydorov said. “The main goal, why we get this win, is because we fight until the end and we stayed together for all four quarters.”
It was a massive victory for Ukraine, which has its three toughest games of Group C play — against Croatia, Italy and Greece — still looming.
But it’s likely that Ukraine already has done enough to earn a spot in the second round, regardless of what happens in those three remaining contests.
And that is an enormous lift for a team carrying the weight of representing a country that has been devastated by the war that Russia started by invading nearly seven months ago.
“Our main goal was to beat Great Britain and Estonia,” Sydorov said. “We all understand the main part was to win both games, and we did, and we’re very happy about it.
Svi Mykhailiuk led Ukraine with 18 points. Volodymyr Herun scored 12 and Sydorov added 11.
Maik-Kalev Kotsar led Estonia (0-2) with 17 points.
GROUP C
CROATIA 86, GREAT BRITAIN 65
Croatia outscored Great Britain 35-9 in the third quarter, building a 35-point lead, and cruised to a win.
Bojan Bogdanovic, Dario Saric and Ivica Zubac each scored 15 for Croatia (1-1), while Mario Hezonja finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Myles Hesson scored 18 and Patrick Whelan finished with 14 for Great Britain (0-2).
GROUP B
FRANCE 77, LITHUANIA 73
At Cologne, Germany, France rallied from a 13-point deficit and took the lead for good on Evan Fournier’s 3-pointer with 3:08 remaining.
Fournier led all scorers with 27 points for France (1-1).
Jonas Valanciunas scored 15 for Lithuania (0-2), which got 14 from Rokas Jokubaitis, 13 from Marius Grigonis, 12 from Ignas Brazdeikis and nine rebounds from Domantas Sabonis.
GERMANY 92, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 82
Germany used an 18-0 run spanning the second and third quarters to erase what was an 11-point deficit and take the lead for good.
Franz Wagner and Dennis Schroder each scored 18 for Germany (2-0), which got 14 points from Johannes Thiemann and 13 from Andreas Obst.
Dzanan Musa scored 30 and Jusuf Nurkic added 21 for Bosnia and Herzegovina (1-1).
GROUP A
MONTENEGRO 76, BELGIUM 70
Bojan Dubljevic scored 21 points and Montenegro (1-1) led nearly the entire way against Belgium (1-1).
Kendrick Perry scored 19 and Vladimir Mihailovic added 14 for Montenegro, which survived getting outscored 20-8 in the fourth quarter.
Retin Obasohan led all scorers with 25 for Belgium, and Manu Lecomte scored 10.
TURKEY 101, BULGARIA 87
Cedi Osman scored 25 points, Alperen Sengun added 20 and Turkey (2-0) used an 18-6 run in the fourth quarter to pull away.
Shane Larkin had 13 points and nine assists for Turkey. Aleksandar Vezenkov led Bulgaria (0-2) with 28 points, while Chavdar Kostov scored 15 and Dee Bost finished with 12 points and 13 assists.
SPAIN 90, GEORGIA 64
Willy Hernangomez scored 14 points, Jaime Pradilla added 12 and Spain (2-0) used a balanced attack on the way past Georgia (0-2).
Spain used 12 players; nine of them had at least seven points.
Rati Andronikashvili led Georgia with 13 points.
GROUP D
FINLAND 89, POLAND 59
At Prague, Sasu Salin scored 18 points, Lauri Markkanen added 17 and Finland (1-1) had no problem with Poland (1-1).
Elias Valtonen scored 12 for Finland. Mateusz Ponitka and Michal Sokolowski each had eight points for Poland.
SERBIA 81, CZECH REPUBLIC 68
Two-time reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Serbia (2-0) led by as many as 23 in its win over the Czech Republic (0-2).
Vasilije Micic scored 13 for Serbia, Vanja Marinkovic had 11 and Nikola Kalinic added 10.
Vit Kerjci and Vojtech Hruban had 13 points apiece for the Czech Republic.
SUNDAY’S SCHEDULE
Group A and Group B are in action, while Group C and Group D get the day off.
In Group A, Bulgaria meets Montenegro, Spain faces Belgium and Turkey plays Georgia. In Group B, Lithuania squares off with Germany, Slovenia plays Bosnia and Herzegovina, and France meets Hungary.
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