Impressive Finland Hand Belgium First Loss

Sam Van Rossom  was the only Belgium player in double digits in a dissapointing night for his team

Petteri Koponen scored 21 points to lead Finland to an impressive 97-60 defeat of Belgium in the battle of previously unbeaten teams in Group E of the EuroBasket qualifying round.

Finland ran away in the second half, outscoring the visitors 60-28 after the interval to turn a tense battle into an easy win.

Belgium had held a narrowly lead, 32-31, in the final two minutes of the first half, but Finland scored the final six points of the second quarter to offer a hint of what was to come.

A 10-point Finnish run, including three-pointers from Shawn Huff and Sasu Salin, made it 47-34, and moments later another spurt of 13 unanswered points, capped by threes from Koponen and Huff made it 60-36 with 3:43 left in the third.

Finland only continued to pour it on in the final stanza, with a 15-2 run making it 92-53 when Huff split a pair of free throws with 2:39 to go.

Huff had 17 points for Finland, with Mikko Koivisto adding 12 and Tuukka Kotti 11.

Sam Van Rossum was the only Belgium player to get into double figures with 11 points.

Quotes Finland vs. Belgium

Christophe Beghin, Belgium:

"We were not aggressive enough in the second quarter. We made a lot of bad decisions. We just have to keep our head up. This was a huge loss, but we still have five games left and nothing has changed for us. We must learn from this and win the next games."

Eddy Casteels, Belgium head-coach:

"We played against an amazing team. They felt the game well, they thought well, they executed well. They have an amazing player, Petteri Koponen, who took control. When a team hits their three pointers like that, they're very difficult to defend. Finland dominated the game and we were a half step late on every situation. Our goal is to qualify to EuroBasket 2013 and now it's back to business."

Tuukka Kotti, Finland:

"I cannot recall a game like this although we have played some great ones in the past years. This was our basketball at its best. Every guy was making shots and defensive plays, confidence was sky high and the final score is what it is. Amazing."

Henrik Dettmann, Finland head-coach:

"It was a magnificent night overall and a great basketball game. In the first half nothing was given for free: no shots, no rolls - nothing. It was only about great defense from both teams. In the second half - well, I wouldn't be too surprised with our red-hot shooters. That's how we play. This was a great result, but now we face a tremendously hard task. We have to nullify the euphoria caused by this game and keep the focus. Going away for games in Switzerland and Albania won't be an easy task."