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Georgia men's national basketball team

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This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Georgia women's national basketball team.

Georgia
FIBA ranking20 Steady (2 December 2025)[1]
Joined FIBA1992
FIBA zoneFIBA Europe
National federationGBF
CoachAleksandar Džikić
Nickname(s)ჯვაროსნები
jvarosnebi (Crusaders)
FIBA World Cup
Appearances1
MedalsNone
EuroBasket
Appearances6
MedalsNone
Home jersey
Team colours
Home
Away jersey
Team colours
Away
First international
 Poland 91–68 Georgia 
(Birmingham, England; 24 May 1995)
Biggest win
 Georgia 103–43 Azerbaijan 
(Tbilisi, Georgia; 2 September 2001)
Biggest defeat
 Italy 90–43 Georgia 
(Siena, Italy; 28 February 1998)

The Georgia men's national basketball team (Georgian: საქართველოს ეროვნული საკალათბურთო ნაკრები) represents the country of Georgia in international basketball matches, and is controlled by the Georgian Basketball Federation. Georgia became a member of FIBA in 1992, after they gained independence from the Soviet Union. The national team played their first official match against Poland in 1995.

Georgia's accomplishments on the international level have been clinching qualification to the European Basketball Championship six times. Their best result came at their sixth trip to the tournament in 2025. In 2023, Georgia achieved their first qualification on to the global stage at the FIBA World Cup.

Since 2023, Georgia has had the highest FIBA World Ranking among Caucasus countries.

History

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Soviet era

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Until 1991, Georgia was a part of the Soviet Union, with players born in Georgia playing for the Soviet Union national team. Notable players born in Georgia who played for the Soviet Union and won medals at the Olympic Games, FIBA World Cup and EuroBasket include: Nodar Dzhordzhikiya, Otar Korkia, Guram Minashvili, Vladimer Ugrekhelidze, Levan Moseshvili, Zurab Sakandelidze, Mikheil Korkia and Nikolay Deryugin.

Independent Georgia

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After gaining independence from the Soviet Union, on several occasions the Georgian national team unsuccessfully tried to qualify for the EuroBasket, Europe's biggest basketball competition and major tournament. Although the national team did play on the EuroBasket Division B level three times and gained promotion in 2009 after defeating Belarus in play-offs.[2] However, after the expansion of the EuroBasket in 2011 from 16 to 24 teams, Georgia qualified to the competition for the first time.

EuroBasket 2011

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Main article: EuroBasket 2011

The national team played five matches in Group D. They finished their preliminary group with an 2–3 record, with wins against Belgium and Ukraine, to advance. In their second round group phase, Georgia lost all five of their matches to finish their maiden voyage to the EuroBasket in 11th place.[3]

EuroBasket 2013

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Main article: EuroBasket 2013

After finishing second in qualifying group, Georgia qualified for its second EuroBasket tournament. After a comfortable 84–67 victory in the opening match over Poland, Georgia lost their four remaining matches and finished the tournament with an 1–4 record.[4] To that point, the Eurobasket 2013 was the only tournament in which Georgia could not win more than one match.

EuroBasket 2015

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Main article: EuroBasket 2015

Georgia qualified to the EuroBasket for the third successive time in 2015. After three consecutive losses to start the tournament, the national team finally earned their first win in group play against Macedonia 90–75. They followed it up with another victory to end the opening phase of the event against Croatia, 71–58[5] to move on to the knockout stages for the first time. There they suffered a narrow hard fought defeat to the tournament favourites, and eventual silver medalist Lithuania 81–85.[6]

EuroBasket 2017

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Main article: EuroBasket 2017

During the EuroBasket 2017 qualification Georgia topped its group after an 90–84 victory over Montenegro, and qualified to EuroBasket for the fourth successive time.[7] Once the competition began, the national team got off to a quick start, avenging their EuroBasket 2015 knockout stage defeat to Lithuania 79–77.[8] The rest of the group stage didn't go as well for the Georgian side though. As the team could only manage to pullout one more victory against Israel, before falling to Italy to finish the tournament with an 2–3 record and being eliminated.[9]

EuroBasket 2022

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Main article: EuroBasket 2022

Georgia was the co-host the EuroBasket 2022, and they automatically qualified for the 2022 finals tournament. This was the fifth successive time that Georgia qualified for the event overall. Tbilisi was one of the host cities, and was used for Group A matches at the brand new Tbilisi Basketball Arena.[10][11]

2023 FIBA World Cup

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Main article: 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup

In February 2023, Georgia was qualified for the finals tournament of 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup by earning 3rd place in qualifiers. This was the first time that Georgia qualified for the event overall. They lost to Iceland 80-77 in the final Europe Region qualifying game for both teams. However, Iceland needed to win by four points or more to win a tiebreaker over Georgia for the World Cup berth. Both teams finished qualifying with 5-5 records, with the tiebreaker going to Georgia by the slimmest of margins.[12] “Amazing. I’m so happy, man,” said Georgia’s Thaddus McFadden, a Michigan-born guard.

In August 2023, Georgia kept their dream run alive as the debutants booked a trip to the Second Round of the World Cup by dashing the hopes of Venezuela, 70-59 at the Okinawa Arena, Japan.[13] They lost successive matches to both Germany and Austria and ended the journey in World Cup.

EuroBasket 2025

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Main article: EuroBasket 2025

On 7 September 2025, Georgia advanced to the quarter-finals of EuroBasket 2025 for the first time in history, with a dominant 80-70 win against France in Riga Arena, Latvia. France was runner-up at EuroBasket 2022 and the 2024 Summer Olympics. After their history victory, national team veteran Giorgi Shermadini said “Unbelievable. I’m really happy, congrats to my teammates, everyone, all our fans in Georgia and here. France are amazing, but today we played better in defense and offense.”[14]

The Foundation

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The core of the national team that has consistently qualified to Europe's biggest basketball competition consisted of captain Zaza Pachulia, Viktor Sanikidze, Manuchar Markoishvili, Tornike Shengelia, Giorgi Tsintsadze and Giorgi Shermadini. These pioneers in the Georgian basketball community have set the standard for future generations of the national team to build upon, and maintain.

Competitive record

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Results and fixtures

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  Win   Loss

2025

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21 February 2025 Georgia  62–60  Denmark Tbilisi, Georgia
21:00 (UTC+4) Scoring by quarter: 19–21, 18–4, 11–20, 14–15
Pts: Shengelia 19
Rebs: Shengelia 13
Asts: Andronikashvili, Shengelia 4 		Boxscore Pts: Larsen 14
Rebs: Berg 8
Asts: Berg 3 		Arena: Tbilisi Arena
Attendance: 9,000
Referees: Luis Castillo (ESP), Ventsislav Velikov (BUL), Ilias Kounelles (CYP)
24 February 2025 Serbia  63–54  Georgia Belgrade, Serbia
20:00 (UTC+1) Scoring by quarter: 13–17, 14–14, 17–10, 19–13
Pts: Avramović 14
Rebs: Beslać, Koprivica 5
Asts: Jović 6 		Boxscore Pts: Burjanadze 17
Rebs: Jintcharadze, Phevadze 7
Asts: Jintcharadze 4 		Arena: Aleksandar Nikolić Hall
Attendance: 7,500
Referees: Gatis Saliņš (LAT), Ofer Manheim (ISR), Valentin Oliot (FRA)
28 August 2025 Georgia  83–69  Spain Limassol, Cyprus
15:00 (UTC+3) Scoring by quarter: 20–17, 17–18, 20–14, 26–20
Pts: Mamukelashvili 19
Rebs: Burjanadze, Mamukelashvili 7
Asts: Mamukelashvili 6 		Boxscore Pts: J. Hernangómez 13
Rebs: J. Hernangómez 8
Asts: De Larrea 5 		Arena: Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Center
Attendance: 1,520
Referees: Matthew Kallio (CAN), Paulo Marques (POR), Petar Pešić (SRB)
30 August 2025 Italy  78–62  Georgia Limassol, Cyprus
15:00 (UTC+3) Scoring by quarter: 18–10, 14–22, 21–15, 25–15
Pts: Niang 15
Rebs: Melli 8
Asts: Pajola, Spissu 5 		Boxscore Pts: Bitadze 22
Rebs: Mamukelashvili, Shermadini 5
Asts: Shengelia 5 		Arena: Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Center
Attendance: 2,089
Referees: Matthew Kallio (CAN), Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LAT), Petar Pešić (SRB)
31 August 2025 Georgia  53–94  Greece Limassol, Cyprus
15:00 (UTC+3) Scoring by quarter: 13–22, 16–24, 12–23, 12–25
Pts: Mamukelashvili 14
Rebs: Shermadini 7
Asts: Baldwin 5 		Boxscore Pts: G. Antetokounmpo 27
Rebs: G. Antetokounmpo 8
Asts: Sloukas 6 		Arena: Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Center
Attendance: 7,290
Referees: Jorge Vázquez (PUR), Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LAT), Ventsislav Velikov (BUL)
2 September 2025 Cyprus  61–93  Georgia Limassol, Cyprus
18:15 (UTC+3) Scoring by quarter: 13–15, 13–27, 15–26, 20–25
Pts: Willis 19
Rebs: Willis 7
Asts: Stylianou 5 		Boxscore Pts: Shengelia 27
Rebs: Bitadze 13
Asts: three players 6 		Arena: Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Center
Attendance: 3,142
Referees: Gvidas Gedvilas (LTU), Siniša Prpa (SRB), Gintaras Mačiulis (LTU)
4 September 2025 Bosnia and Herzegovina  84–76  Georgia Limassol, Cyprus
15:00 (UTC+3) Scoring by quarter: 20–15, 27–20, 20–27, 17–14
Pts: Nurkić, Roberson 15
Rebs: Nurkić 12
Asts: Atić 8 		Boxscore Pts: Mamukelashvili 20
Rebs: Mamukelashvili 8
Asts: Baldwin, Shengelia 4 		Arena: Spyros Kyprianou Athletic Center
Attendance: 2,539
Referees: Matthew Kallio (CAN), Gvidas Gedvilas (LTU), Ventsislav Velikov (BUL)
7 September 2025 France  70–80  Georgia Riga, Latvia
15:15 (UTC+3) Scoring by quarter: 20–24, 17–14, 17–20, 16–22
Pts: Francisco 14
Rebs: Jaiteh 7
Asts: Jaiteh 4 		Boxscore Pts: Baldwin, Shengelia 24
Rebs: Mamukelashvili 11
Asts: Bitadze 4 		Arena: Xiaomi Arena
Attendance: 1,652
Referees: Jorge Vázquez (PUR), Kerem Baki (TUR), Ventsislav Velikov (BUL)
10 September 2025 Finland  93–79  Georgia Riga, Latvia
17:00 (UTC+3) Scoring by quarter: 28–15, 29–25, 14–22, 22–17
Pts: Jantunen 19
Rebs: Salin 7
Asts: Little 9 		Boxscore Pts: Mamukelashvili 22
Rebs: Bitadze 6
Asts: Shengelia 5 		Arena: Xiaomi Arena
Attendance: 6,025
Referees: Yohan Rosso (FRA), Julio Anaya (PAN), Gatis Saliņš (LAT)
27 November 2025 Georgia  79–92  Ukraine Tbilisi, Georgia
21:00 (UTC+4) Scoring by quarter: 23–15, 25–28, 13–23, 18–26
Pts: D. Sanadze 22
Rebs: Shengelia,
Shermadini 6
Asts: Andronikashvili 5 		Boxscore Pts: Kovliar 31
Rebs: Bobrov 15
Asts: Kovliar 6 		Arena: Tbilisi Arena
Attendance: 9,000
Referees: Mihkel Männiste (EST), Çisil Güngör (ROU), Orhan Çağrı Hekimoğlu (TUR)
30 November 2025 Spain  90–61  Georgia La Laguna, Spain
18:45 (UTC+0) Scoring by quarter: 19–22, 28–11, 23–13, 20–15
Pts: Yusta 17
Rebs: Almansa 9
Asts: Yusta 6 		Boxscore Pts: Khatiashvili,
Shengelia 10
Rebs: Shengelia 7
Asts: Andronikashvili 4 		Arena: Pabellón Insular Santiago Martín
Attendance: 4,603
Referees: Boris Krejić (SVN), Ventsislav Velikov (BUL), Siniša Prpa (SRB)

2026

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27 February 2026 Denmark  vs.  Georgia Denmark
--:-- (UTC+1)
Boxscore
2 March 2026 Georgia  vs.  Denmark Georgia
--:-- (UTC+4)
Boxscore
2 July 2026 Ukraine  vs.  Georgia TBD
Boxscore
5 July 2026 Georgia  vs.  Spain Georgia
--:-- (UTC+4)
Boxscore

Team

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Current roster

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Roster for the 2027 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers matches on 27 and 30 November 2025 against Ukraine and Spain.[15]

Georgia men's national basketball team roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr.
PG 4 Rati Andronikashvili 24 – (2001-03-19)19 March 2001 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Álftanes Iceland
SF 6 Kakhaber Jintcharadze 32 – (1993-07-16)16 July 1993 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Tadamon Hrajel Lebanon
PF 7 Beka Burjanadze 31 – (1994-01-03)3 January 1994 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Granada Spain
C 9 Giorgi Shermadini 36 – (1989-04-02)2 April 1989 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) Tenerife Spain
SG 10 Duda Sanadze 33 – (1992-07-25)25 July 1992 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Palma Spain
C 11 Giorgi Turdziladze 28 – (1997-10-21)21 October 1997 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) TSU Georgia (country)
PF 12 George Korsantia 27 – (1998-01-11)11 January 1998 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Gipuzkoa Spain
SG 13 Sandro Sanadze 30 – (1995-11-13)13 November 1995 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Margveti Georgia (country)
F 15 Aleksandre Phevadze 27 – (1998-04-15)15 April 1998 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) TSU Georgia (country)
PF 23 Toko Shengelia (C) 34 – (1991-10-05)5 October 1991 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) Barcelona Spain
PG 25 Thad McFadden 38 – (1987-05-29)29 May 1987 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Menorca Spain
PG 27 Luka Maziashvili 25 – (2000-10-27)27 October 2000 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Kavkasia Georgia (country)
G 30 Mate Khatiashvili 17 – (2008-11-07)7 November 2008 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Baskonia Spain
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Club – describes last
    club before the competition
  • Age – describes age
    on 27 November 2025

Depth chart

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Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Goga Bitadze Giorgi Shermadini
PF Tornike Shengelia Beka Burjanadze George Korsantia
SF Sandro Mamukelashvili Kakhaber Jintcharadze Aleksandre Phevadze
SG Duda Sanadze Giorgi Ochkhikidze
PG Kamar Baldwin Rati Andronikashvili

Head coach history

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Past rosters

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2011 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 24 teams[17]

4 Giorgi Gamqrelidze, 5 Vladimir Boisa, 6 Anatoli Boisa, 7 Zaza Pachulia (C), 8 Giorgi Tsintsadze, 9 Giorgi Shermadini,
10 Lasha Parghalava, 11 Manuchar Markoishvili, 12 MarQuez Haynes, 13 Viktor Sanikidze, 14 Tornike Shengelia, 15 Nikoloz Tskitishvili
(Coach: Serbia Igor Kokoškov)

2013 EuroBasket: finished 17th among 24 teams[18]

4 Nika Metreveli, 5 Otar Pkhakadze, 6 Duda Sanadze, 7 Beka Burjanadze, 8 Giorgi Tsintsadze, 9 Giorgi Shermadini, 10 Ricky Hickman,
11 Manuchar Markoishvili, 12 Levan Patsatsia, 13 Viktor Sanikidze, 14 Besik Lezhava, 15 Nikoloz Tskitishvili (Coach: Serbia Igor Kokoškov)

2015 EuroBasket: finished 15th among 24 teams[19]

0 Jacob Pullen, 4 Nika Metreveli, 7 Zaza Pachulia (C), 8 Giorgi Tsintsadze, 9 Giorgi Shermadini, 10 Duda Sanadze,
11 Manuchar Markoishvili, 12 Levan Patsatsia, 13 Viktor Sanikidze, 15 Beka Burjanadze, 23 Tornike Shengelia, 25 Besik Lezhava
(Coach: Serbia Igor Kokoškov)

2017 EuroBasket: finished 17th among 24 teams[20]

3 Michael Dixon, 4 Giorgi Gamqrelidze, 6 Anatoli Boisa, 7 Zaza Pachulia (C), 8 Giorgi Tsintsadze, 9 Giorgi Shermadini,
10 Duda Sanadze, 11 Manuchar Markoishvili, 17 Mikheil Berishvili, 23 Tornike Shengelia, 35 Goga Bitadze, 99 Ilia Londaridze
(Coach: Greece Ilias Zouros)

2022 EuroBasket: finished 21st among 24 teams[21]

4 Rati Andronikashvili, 5 Sandro Mamukelashvili, 6 Kakhaber Jintcharadze, 7 Beka Burjanadze, 8 Giorgi Tsintsadze,
9 Giorgi Shermadini (C), 10 Duda Sanadze, 17 Mikheil Berishvili, 18 Merab Bokolishvili, 25 Thad McFadden, 33 Beka Bekauri,
35 Goga Bitadze (Coach: Greece Ilias Zouros)

2023 FIBA World Cup: finished 16th among 32 teams[22]

4 Rati Andronikashvili, 5 Sandro Mamukelashvili, 6 Kakhaber Jintcharadze, 7 Luka Liklikadze, 8 Giorgi Tsintsadze, 9 Giorgi Shermadini,
10 Duda Sanadze, 11 Giorgi Turdziladze, 17 Mikheil Berishvili, 23 Tornike Shengelia (C), 25 Thad McFadden, 35 Goga Bitadze
(Coach: Greece Ilias Zouros)

2025 EuroBasket: finished 8th among 24 teams[23]

4 Rati Andronikashvili, 5 Sandro Mamukelashvili, 6 Kakhaber Jintcharadze, 7 Beka Burjanadze, 9 Giorgi Shermadini, 10 Duda Sanadze, 12 George Korsantia, 15 Aleksandre Phevadze, 23 Tornike Shengelia (C), 35 Goga Bitadze, 44 Kamar Baldwin, 77 Giorgi Ochkhikidze (Coach: Serbia Aleksandar Džikić)

Head-to-head record

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Does not include unofficial closed door friendly matches

Kit

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Manufacturer

[edit]
[edit]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "FIBA World Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 2 December 2025. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
  2. ^ "Montenegro, Georgia promoted to Division A - TalkBasket.net". TalkBasket.net. 10 September 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  3. ^ "Georgia | EuroBasket (2011) | FIBA Europe". www.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  4. ^ "Georgia | EuroBasket (2013) | FIBA Europe". www.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  5. ^ "Georgia – Croatia | EuroBasket (2015) | FIBA Europe". www.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  6. ^ "Lithuania – Georgia | EuroBasket (2015) | FIBA Europe". www.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  7. ^ "Georgia during the EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers". Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  8. ^ "Georgia battle past Lithuania, exact revenge for 2015 loss". Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  9. ^ "Georgia at the EuroBasket 2017". Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  10. ^ "FIBA Europe delegation visits Tbilisi to see progress of new arena". FIBA. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  11. ^ "Georgia to build a new sports complex for European Basketball Championship". Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  12. ^ Reynolds, Tim (27 February 2023). "Georgia loses game, and wins a FIBA World Cup berth anyway". AP. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  13. ^ "Georgia's maiden World Cup run continues through to Second Round with win". FIBA. 30 August 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  14. ^ "Guerschon Yabusele cible la chose qui a causé l'élimination de l'équipe de France à l'EuroBasket" (in French). RMC Sport. 7 September 2025. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  15. ^ "Georgia during the 2027 FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers in November 2025". Retrieved 27 November 2025.
  16. ^ "1994 წლის 20 მარტი – საქართველოს კალათბურთელთა ნაკრების დაბადების დღეა / ევრობასკეტი 1997". 1tv.ge (in Georgian). Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  17. ^ "Georgia at the EuroBasket 2011". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  18. ^ "Georgia at the EuroBasket 2013". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  19. ^ "Georgia at the EuroBasket 2015". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  20. ^ "Georgia at the EuroBasket 2017". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  21. ^ "Georgia at the EuroBasket 2022". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  22. ^ "Georgia at the 2023 FIBA World Cup". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  23. ^ "Georgia at the EuroBasket 2025". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
  24. ^ a b Georgia | EuroBasket 2015 – PHOTO GALLERY, eurobasket2015.org. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
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