Israel fell to Slovenia 88-79 as they split their opening Eurobasket 2025 qualifiers and head home with a 1-1 record with the next window of games slated for November when they play a home and home series with Ukraine.

The blue-and-white started strong and grabbed an early double digit, 20-8 lead the first quarter on the strength of Yam Madar and Iftach Ziv. However, the hosts came storming back as Leon Sterger and Ziga Demic along with Gregor Hrovat got Slovenia rolling, followed by Klemen Prepelic, Jaka Blazic and Mike Tobey all getting into the game to pull away and leave the visitors well behind as Aleksander Sekulic’s squad took the win.

Israel went 5/32 from beyond the arc while Slovenia started slow from deep going 0//10, they the went 12/30 the rest of the way. The blue-and-white also struggled from the free throw line going 6/15 from the charity stripe as the hosts went 14/17. Finally, Slovenia manhandled Israel on the boards grabbing 48 rebounds, 18 of which were of the offensive side of the court to just 30 for the visitors.

Madar scored 19 points, Tomer Ginat added 17 points and 10 rebounds as Ziv scored 9 points in the loss. Prepelic scored 21 points, Tobey added 20 points and 12 rebounds while Hrovat scored 16 points in the win.

“Slovenia played very well and deserved the win,” Israel Head Coach Ariel Beit Halachmi said. “At the end of the day, our offense was wide open and we kept missing shots. I don’t remember a game like that and we could have been in the lead at the end of the first half. We didn’t do the job defensively and we were late on closeouts and their 3’s that were coming. They hurt us all game on the offensive rebound. The best team won this game.”

“We can be proud of the reaction of the players after being down,” Slovenia Head Coach Aleksander Sekulic said. “We fought back by the end of the first half and then we continued along in the second half where we left off in the first. Even when we made mistakes we knew to stay together and notch the win.”

Iftach Ziv spoke about the game, “We knew that we were facing a good and experienced team. We came here to fight and came to take the win and we are disappointed with the result, but it is what is. We wore the Israel National Team jersey with pride and we did as best as we could. Am Israel Chai.”

Gregor Hrovat also reflected on the game, “We knew that it was going to be tough as Israel has a good team and a lot of individual quality. We started slow but we turned it around in the second half and we deserved to win.”

Yam Madar scored a layup while Iftach Ziv drained a 3-pointer and Yovel Zoosman fed Tomer Ginat for a pair inside to give Israel a 7-2 lead midway through the first quarter. Madar went from deep, Ziv stole the ball for a dunk, Ginat put in a floater, Madar scored a long deuce, Gregor Hrovat and Jakob Cebasek came back with points for Slovenia but an Itay Segev dunk and Madar tear drop gave the blue-and-white a 20-8 lead after ten minutes of play.

Madar began the second quarter with points off the backboard Leon Stergar and Ziga Demic scored for the hosts, Madar fed Segev for an alley-oop, but the Stergar and Demic duo continued to fill the basket as Ginat and Zoosman scored to keep Ariel Beit Halachmi’s team ahead 29-25 with six minutes left in the first half.

Jaka Blazic scored his first points of the game, Ziv hit a midrange jumper, Mike Tobey scored under the basket, Noam Yaacov went for a long two, Klemen Prepelic scored from beyond the arc while Hrovat stole the ball and went in for an easy deuce, Ginat came back with points as did Tobey with a pair of baskets as Slovenia grabbed a slim 40-37 lead at halftime.

Prepelic opened the third quarter from deep, Hrovat and Blazic also scored, Tobey scored off an offensive rebound as Prepelic went from downtown to quickly bump the Slovenia lead up to 57-44 midway through the period. Rafi Menco tried to keep Israel relevant, Timor added points, Menco continued to score, but Prepelic drilled home a triple to keep Slovenia in front 65-53 after thirty minutes of action.

Yaacov, Bar Timor and Nimrod Levi all found points to get the fourth quarter underway, Prepelic and Blazic went from deep, Tobey put in an alley-oop, Hrovat added a layup while Timor and Gnat each went from deep which was too little too late as Slovenia notched the victory.