Tense overtime. Ukraine lost to Finland in a friendly match

Ukraine men’s national team held the final control game before the official matches, which are the 2023 World Cup and EuroBasket 2022 selections. In Jyväskylä, Finland, the Ukraine team lost to the local national team in overtime (94:97).

Vitaly Zotov and Andrey Voinalovich are among the players who went to the game but did not apply for the game, but NBA representatives Svyatoslav Mikhailyuk and Aleksey Len played together for the first time on the field, moreover, they took part in the first half. five.

The first half of the game was even – the advantage passed from one team to the other, as a result of which the Ukrainians won the first quarter at 20:16, but the teams already parted for a long break with the home advantage of 47: 44. The Ukrainian national team played much brighter in the third quarter, which was +12 made it possible to create an advantage of In the last quarter, the Finns did everything to catch the Ukrainians in the score, and with two minutes left in the match – 81:81.

Then the nervous play continued – the Finns countered Sanon’s shot with two points from Salina, the hosts responded with a Tkachenko three-pointer with Markanen’s long-range shot, and Sloth responded with a full free throw from Markanen. Finally – 87:87 and overtime. In the extra five minutes, Finland took a lead 10:2, but Ukraine almost escaped – they narrowed the lead to -3 and Tkachenko and Sidorov missed the three-pointers on the final offense – 94:97.

Finnish leader Lauri Markanen led the game with 42 points and 9 rebounds. Among the players of the Ukrainian team, Svyatoslav Mikhailyuk scored 20, Yussuf Sanon 13, Volodymyr Gerun 12 points.

Then there are the qualifying matches of the Ukrainian national team for the 2023 World Cup – on August 24, the blue-yellows will play in Riga against Italy.

Basketball (Men). Friendly match

Jyväskylä (Finland), 18 August

Finland – Ukraine – 97:94 Overtime (16:20, 31:24, 15:27, 25:16, 10:7)

Ukraine: Bliznyuk 9+6 assists, Lukashov 9, Mikhailyuk 20+5 assists – 5 turnovers + 3 steals, Pustovoy 6, Len 4+6 rebounds – start; Sanon 13+6 assists, Gerun 12+6 rebounds, Sidorov 8, Tkachenko 6, Bobrov 5, Skapintsev 2, Krutous 0