From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, September 2, 2025
Israel’s national basketball team advances to EuroBasket knockout round for first time since 2015
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJoshua Davidovich is The Times of Israel's Deputy Editor
Israel’s national basketball team has clinched a spot in the 16-team EuroBasket tournament with a 92-89 win over Belgium in Katowice, Poland.
The berth marks the first time in over a decade that Israel has advanced past the group stage in the quadrennial tournament of Europe’s best hoopsters.
Anchored by trailblazer Deni Avdija, Israel has been carried through the group stage by convincingly shellacking Iceland and even powerhouse France over the last week. Its only loss, a 66-64 squeaker, came against Poland on August 30.
Avdija’s 22-point performance led the charge against Belgium, joined by center Roman Sorkin’s 18 points, with Israel dominating for much of the game. Belgium managed to shrink the lead to 90-87 with eight seconds to go before Israel closed out the win at the charity stripe.
“I felt good, I had the touches in the places I wanted. My teammates found me, and I’m happy I made the shots to create the lead and bring the energy for our team,” Sorkin says.
The team finishes out the group stage on Thursday against Slovenia before moving to Riga, Latvia, for the final tournament, slated to begin Saturday. Other teams to qualify so far include Germany, Turkey and Serbia, who have all gone undefeated.
Israel last made the tournament in 2015, but was swiftly sent packing with a 30-point first-round loss to Italy.
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