Luka Dončić scores 42 points as Slovenia holds off Italy to set up a quarterfinal match against Germany.
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RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Georgia advanced to the quarterfinals at the EuroBasket tournament for the first time with a dominant 80-70 win against France on Sunday.
France was runner-up to Spain in the 2022 final but both teams failed to reach the quarterfinal stage this time. Georgia will face Finland, which knocked out Nikola Jokic’s Serbia side on Saturday.
Georgia’s players sprinted off the bench at the end of the round-of-16 match, hugging and jumping up and down as their fans banged drums and danced in the crowd in Riga, Latvia.
“Unbelievable. I’m really happy, congrats to my teammates, everyone, all our fans in Georgia and here,” Georgia veteran Giorgi Shermadini said. “France are amazing, but today we played better in defense and offense.”
HISTORY FOR SAKARTVELO 🇬🇪, FRANCE ARE OUT OF EUROBASKET 😳#EuroBasket
— FIBA EuroBasket (@EuroBasket) September 7, 2025
Olympic silver medalist France made only six of its 36 3-pointer attempts for a paltry average of 17% while Georgia scored from over half of its 3-pointers and punished France for frequently fouling by scoring 20 of 24 free throws.
Georgia led by one point at halftime and by nine early into the fourth quarter, with Barcelona forward Tornike Shengelia’s blend of athleticism and raw power pressuring France’s inexperienced defense.
France’s scrappy offense failed to get Guerschon Yabusele — who scored 36 points against Poland during the group stage — into enough open play and he was too often pushed out wide.
Zaccharie Risacher, the No. 1 NBA draft pick last year, found some form as France dragged itself back into the game and, with three minutes left, the score was 68-68.
But France’s wastefulness from 3-pointers ultimately proved costly as Les Bleus could not get on a run.
Shengelia was inspirational for Georgia with 24 points and eight rebounds, while American-born Kamar Baldwin also scored 24 for Georgia, which beat Spain during the group stage.
“We never stopped fighting, believing,” Shengelia said. “I want to thank the people who came this far to Riga to support us, we felt the extra energy.”
Point guard Sylvain Francisco top-scored with 14 points for France. Yabusele was restricted to 12 points and Risacher mustered only seven.
France coach Frédéric Fauthoux was without NBA star Victor Wembanyama — who has been dealing with deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder — and key veterans like Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier.
Ultimately, Wembanyama’s absence combined with a new coach and new players proved too much.
Dončić dazzles to lift Slovenia
Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Dončić seems more than ready for the coming NBA season, after another dazzling show in a EuroBasket Round of 16 game.
Dončić finished with 42 points in Slovenia’s 84-77 win over Italy, a victory that pushed his team to the quarterfinals of the European championships for the third consecutive time. Slovenia won the title in 2017, then reached the quarterfinals in 2022.
Slovenia will play reigning World Cup champion Germany in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
Dončić scored 30 first-half points Sunday, helping stake Slovenia to a 50-40 lead at intermission. He was 9-for-13 from the field in the half — 5-for-5 on 2-pointers, 4-for-8 on 3-pointers — and was 8-for-9 from the foul line. No other Slovenia player had more than four points in the half.
Doncic finished 11-for-19 from the field in 33 minutes, plus was 15-for-16 from the foul line.
Doncic was the leading scorer in the group stage of the tournament, averaging 32.4 points in Slovenia’s first five games before the start of the knockout round.
LUKA EXPLODES FOR 42 PTS AND SLOVENIA MOVE ON 🇸🇮#EuroBasket
— FIBA EuroBasket (@EuroBasket) September 7, 2025
Poland advances
Shooting guard Jordan Loyd scored 28 points and forward Mateusz Ponitka had 19 points and 11 rebounds as Poland beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 80-72 to set up a quarterfinal against Turkey.
Utah Jazz center Jusuf Nurkić again led Bosnia and Herzegovina with 20 points and seven rebounds.
Giannis dominates
In the last round-of-16 match, Greece — which eliminated defending champion Spain in the group stage — beat Israel 84-79 to set up a quarterfinal match against three-time champion Lithuania.
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo put in another dominating performance with 37 points and 10 rebounds.
The quarterfinals will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The final is next Sunday.
