Photo Credit: FIBA

Israel has finished its EuroBasket 2025 qualifying campaign with a come-from-behind 84-74 win over Slovenia in Riga on Monday night. While the Blue & White had already qualified for this summer’s tournament prior to the final window, Friday night’s 84-78 win over Portugal and Monday night’s victory means that the Blue & White finished top of the group with 5 wins and 1 loss, with that 79-88 loss to Slovenia coming almost a year to the day of the return leg.

Noam Yaacov (17 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists), Rafi Menco (15 points and 2 rebounds) and Itay Segev (12 points, 10 rebounds and 2 steals) were all in double-figures for the Israeli team, while Leon Stergar (16 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals) top-scored for Slovenia.

Israel now waits to see where they will be starting the main tournament in July, with the EuroBasket 2025 group games being played in Cyprus, Finland, Poland and Latvia (Israel’s home away from home during the war).

“We had a good window and we played well, today wasn’t an easy game but we played a great last quarter [in which Israel scored 23 points to Slovenia’s 15], it took a lot of effort and I’m proud of the players for this week,” Israel coach Ariel Beit Halachmi said after the game. “At these times, it’s important to represent our country. What was important for us is our standards here, our conduct and playing style, we did it and we have a lot to think about for the summer.

“There’s a lot of time before the summer and the most important thing is that the players remain healthy, they still have the remainder of a not so simple season, the summer will come and we will see,” Beit Halachmi continued. “I really want Ben Saraf [8 points, 2 assists and 4 steals in a little under 20 minutes] to be at the EuroBasket, I hope however it depends on a lot of things. Ben wants to be there, but it depends on which team selects him [in the upcoming NBA draft, where he is projected to be taken in the lottery]. Every play who is able to help us will be considered for the summer, each player needs to fir the team in all things, not only basketball. At the end of the day, the players who were here gave it their all, they showed our spirit, they represented us in the most beautiful way and I’m very happy.”

“We showed excellent minutes relative to the time that we had to prepare,” Yaacov said. “We’re happy that we finished first in our group and we did the work. I’m happy that we succeeded in this window and what happens in the summer will happen, I felt comfortable, the fast pace and pressure on the ball suited me, these are the things that I do. It was very special to be in the national team’s uniform during these very difficult times for everyone at home, I’m happy that we managed to bring a bit of pride.”