Eurobasket Qualifiers End: Brave Dragons Defeated in France by Buzzer-Beater

(Patria) - The BiH national basketball team was defeated tonight in Orleans by the home team France with a score of 76:74 in the final round of the Eurobasket 2025 qualifiers.

The Dragons led for most of the game, but unfortunately faltered towards the very end due to a shortened rotation caused by the injury of two of our players (Ajdin Penava and Xavier Castaneda).

The French won with a shot at the buzzer, and with the score at 74:74, the decisive points for the French were scored by Elie Okobo.

We remind you that Bosnia and Herzegovina was significantly weakened by the absence of Džanan Musa and Edin Atić.

However, tonight's match in Orleans had no significance in terms of the result, given that we secured our ticket to the Eurobasket last Friday with a victory over Cyprus (along with Croatia's loss to the French).

The Dragons played an excellent first quarter (21:18), in which we even led by seven points (21:14). In the second quarter, we maintained the lead, it was 30:23. However, at the end of the first half, the scoreboard read 34:32 for the French.

In the second half of the game, the Dragons continued their excellent play. They reached a lead of 49:46, and then 57:51. For BiH, Castaneda was excellent, while Mokoka kept the French in the game.

Two minutes before the end, France reached a score of 70:70. Then we made several unnecessary mistakes, which the French skillfully exploited and took a 74:70 lead.

It seemed like it was all over, but we came back into the game with four consecutive points (74:74). France had the last possession with 13 seconds left, and with the already mentioned scenario and Okobo's baskets, the home team ultimately triumphed 76:74.

The most effective players for the Dragons were Xavier Castaneda with 16 points, Aleksandar Lazić with 15, and Amar Alibegović with 14 points. For the French, Makondou and Strazel scored 15 points each.