Basketball: Portugal “closes” qualification for the World Cup with another defeat | Basketball
The Portuguese basketball team ended, this Monday, the third phase of selection for the 2023 World Championship without triumphs, adding the sixth, in as many games, against Montenegro, by 62-77.
If Portugal was already mathematically eliminated and playing for “honor all points”, Montenegro, despite qualifying for the next purification, knew that the points accumulated to fulfill the objective of being present in the final stage of the event.
In this way, the team coached by Mário Gomes ended Group E with six points (one for each wish), while Montenegro added 10, behind leader France (11). Hungary ended up in third place, which also gives access to the next stage, with nine.
Despite the defeat, Miguel Queiroz was the best scorer of the match, with 17 points, surpassing Aleksa Ilic, with 14, Petar Popovic and Nikola Ivanovic, both with 13 points.
without pavilion multipurpose in Odivelasthe Montenegrin team managed “with everything” in the match and, with two partials opening 0-7 each, a comfortable lead was extended to 5-16, which, however, Portugal almost recovered, reducing to 14-16 with nine straight points.
That varied the first period, completed with 1 as it got to the 15-point range very quickly with a lead in the 30th quarter, once-1 again to Montenegro who got to the 15-point range very quickly with a better speed at 30 45.
For the restart, a slight Portuguese reaction, which stagnated at the eight points difference, and, in the final part of the period, and at a stage in which the coach Mário Gomes was expelled for protest, Montenegro took advantage of several losses of the ball, through the punctual installation (for emergencies51-66).
Reached the last period, without Portugal showing evidence that it could still threaten or triumph outsiders, six straight points still fueled hopes (59-66), but the energy ended and Montenegro sentenced the match unequivocally, with a partial of 0 -11, ending the match, in Odivelas, with 62-77.