Division B: Ireland's Furious Rally Falls Just Short Against Great Britain

Two of the day's eight games ended in nail-biters, and the more dramatic one belonged to Ireland, who trailed by 22 points early in the third quarter and had every business losing by 30. Instead, an 15-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters flipped a 22-point deficit into a two-point lead, and for a few minutes at Dvorana Marino Cvetkovic it looked like Great Britain's blowout was about to become a collapse. It didn't quite get there. Emmanuel Ahamefule (200-SF-2008), who'd already scored 26 points including nine in a single second-quarter stretch, calmly tied the game from the line and then closed it out, holding Ireland scoreless on ten straight field-goal attempts down the stretch for a 70-63 win. Tristan Curran (185-G-2008) added a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double for the winners; Aidan McGrath (200-F-2009)'s 16 points and 11 rebounds weren't enough to finish what Ireland started.
Azerbaijan needed its own late nerve against Portugal, in a game that never saw either side lead by more than eight. Oghuzkhan Guliyev (182-PG-2008)'s three-pointer with 1:33 left put Azerbaijan ahead for good, part of a 10-0 closing burst, and Portugal's last chance died when Sebastiao Faro turned the ball over with 40 seconds to play. Ifeanyichukwu Agbason (206-C-2009) came a triple-double short for Azerbaijan 18 points, 12 rebounds, eight blocks while Miguel Sousa (186-SF-2009) grabbed 18 rebounds for Portugal in the loss. Croatia had a similarly tight finish against Romania, winning 88-83 after a Marko Cuvalo (204-F-2008, agency: AltusBasket) layup in the final seconds of the first quarter proved to be the last lead change of the game; Martin Salamunic (198-F-2008) led Croatia with 13 points, and David-Ioan Rasoga answered with 17 for Romania.
Everything else was comfortable. The Netherlands never trailed against Cyprus, blowing the game open with a 17-0 run bridging the first two quarters on the way to a 90-57 win, with Savik Reinten (208-C-2008) posting a double-double in just 18 minutes on the floor. Switzerland was similarly ruthless against Norway, turning an early tie into a rout behind Petar Filipovic (202-G/F-2008)'s four dunks and a balanced attack that saw five players reach double figures, for a 93-62 win. Belgium controlled Finland after a tight opening quarter, with Aaron Ona Embo stuffing the stat sheet 24 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, six steals in a 71-55 win. Hungary erased a five-point halftime deficit against Sweden by outscoring them 45-16 after the break, riding Miklos Asztalos (204-SG-2008)'s double-double to a 79-55 win. And Czechia pulled away from Poland in the third quarter of a 70-60 win, with Marek Houska (194-PG-2009) nearly posting a triple-double of his own (17 points, six rebounds, nine assists) while Krystof Davidek (203-F-2008) added 12 rebounds. Georgia rounded out the day with an 83-66 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, getting 21 points from Mate Kavlashvili (186-G-2008) and 10 assists from Mate Khatiashvili (192-G-2008).
With this round complete, five teams remain unbeaten across the four groups: Czechia and the Netherlands lead the way at 4-0, while Croatia, Georgia and Hungary are all 3-0 in groups with one fewer game played.