FIBA Continental Cups Qualifiers – November 2024 Top 10 moments
- → 7 teams qualified for FIBA EuroBasket 2025.
- → Two record-breaking individual performances steal the show.
- → A heated double-header in the Balkans.
- → Historic firsts for India and Gilas.
- → Incredible buzzer beater saves Spain.
It wasn’t a window for the faint-hearted as drama came from all continents, with double-overtime games, monster performances, and historical first wins across all FIBA major regions.
Missed some of the action? No problem, the Courtside 1891 team helps you relive all of it, with a handpicked selection of the best moments from this past windows.
10 - Bruno Caboclo leads Brazil in comeback to keep perfect record
Watch Bruno Caboclo shine for Brazil by clicking on the picture above
It wasn’t as straightforward as many anticipated for Brazil to get the better of 2-0 Uruguay to stay atop of Group B in the FIBA AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers.
It took them a significant performance from their best player Bruno Caboclo to secure the 6-point win at the Arena Guilherme Paraense.
Uruguay crawled back from Brazil initial’s dominance, flirting with a double-digit lead (+9) as Nicola Pomoli went 1/2 from the free-throw line with 6:47 to go in the second.
It took Brazil 4 minutes to take the lead back in their own hands, with a beautiful three-point game from Georginho De Paula, who drew the foul and still converted the layup.
Brazil then seemed to have taken control of the game – establishing a three-possession lead and keeping it for most of the game.
However, Uruguay wasn’t done yet: Mateo Bianchi’s layup + foul brought the visitor up 1, while Gianfranco Espindola’s layup gave the Uruguayans the +2.
Then, Brazil’s star Bruno Caboclo protected the paint well (4 blocks, 11 rebounds) and scored the and-one that represented the final lead change for Brazil.
The Hapoel Tel Aviv star rounded up his night with 21 points, 11 boards, and 4 blocks to keep his form with the Carioca going.
9: Great Britain stun Greece at the Copper Box
Watch Great Britain upset Greece at the Copper Box Arena by clicking on the image above
Gabe Olaseni & Great Britain were playing at home but it didn't sound like it as the rowdy Greek fans stormed the Copper Box en masse to make East London sound like Athens or Thessaloniki.
It seemed like a triumphal trip for Hellas basketball, as Greece took a 17-point lead in the 2nd quarter through Vangelis Zougris' layup.
However, a quick run in the third quarter, fuelled by former London Lion Gabe Olaseni (playing in his former arena) and Quinn Ellis erased the Greeks' lead, and Great Britain first got in the lead when Trapani Shark player Akwasi Yeboah sinked a three-pointer to make it a 50-48 lead for the hosts.
Gabe Olaseni converted the layup with 7:49 to go in the fourth quarter to make it 61 - 51 and a double-digit lead for Great Britain, with Spanoulis and his players seemingly petrified. Greece tried to mount a comeback but could not get closer than the final 73-72 at the buzzer from a three-pointer off the hands of Dimitris Moraitis.
With Kostas Papanikolaou and Giannoulis Larentzakis back in the lineup, Greece did then return the favor at the PAOK Sports Arena, taking control of an eventual tie-breaker, but what a day for British basketball and incredible upset at the Copper Box Arena!
8: FIBA 2027 World Cup hosts beat Iran for the first time in 19 years
Click on the picture to watch the highlights
It was yet another overtime thriller between Qatar and Iran. The hosts swept this window 2-0 but it wasn’t straightforward.
Iran led the game for 28:48 minutes, never establishing a double-digit lead and allowing a young Qatar team to get back into it.
The Persians led by 4 as Mohammad Amini and Sina Vahvedi scored two layups to make it 68-72 with 3:50 to go during the final five minutes, forced by a three by Matin Aghajanpour with 7 seconds to go in the fourth quarter.
Sina Vahedi converted two free-throws to keep it a four-point game with 2:29 to go. A three by Moustafa Fouda rallied Qatar, who completed the comeback when Tyler Harris tied from the free throw line.
Navid Rezaeifar only went 1 of 2 from the charity stripe, leaving Iran up one with 31 seconds to go. That’s when Mike Lewis took things into his own hands, driving to the basket to score points 18 and 19 of his night and winning the game for Qatar.
What a win for the home team, and what a way to celebrate ending a losing streak that lasted 19 years against Team Melli, who now have to delay the joy of qualifying for the FIBA Asia Cup 2025.
7: India get historic first win in Chennai
Click on the above picture to watch highlights of India's historic win
With 13000 Indian fans combined across India’s two games in Chennai during the November window of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers, India finally celebrated a win that ended their drought that lasted over 3 years.
The Indian Cagers had to swallow 16 losses before they could feel the joy of victory, a victory that was missing against Kazakhstan for 27 years.
Flemming’s players scored 42% of their 35 three-point attempts, and for captain Muin Bek Hafeez, getting the W in his homecourt must have felt amazing.
Pranav Prince, Kanwar Sandhu, Singh Amjyot and Sahaj Sekhon reached double figures to give India a much-awaited result.
Now that the win count has moved, will India keep going and secure another win to get even closer to Saudi Arabia 2025?
6: DR Congo end South Sudan’s two-year unbeaten run in Africa
Watch highlights of DR Congo Snapping South Sudan's winning streak by clicking the picture above
It was the far away August of 2022 when South Sudan last tasted defeat on African soil. That was, of course, until Sunday.
It was an end-to-end game, where teams shared a lead that changed 9 times almost equally. Maccabi Tel Aviv star Wenyen Gabriel led proceedings for South Sudan as usual, finishing with a solid 20-point, 14-rebound stat line.
After a close fourth-quarter, Jordan Sakho drew the foul to make it a three-point lead for the Leopards, but he converted only one of the two, leaving South Sudan with the chance to win or tie after the timeout.
The home side went for the tie, with a Junior Madut layup that sent teams to overtime. Rolly Nganga scored 7 in the last 5 minutes, single-handedly outscoring South Sudan and giving RDC a famous win, the first in two years since Senegal took the win against them in Monastir.
5: Bosnia and Herzegovina overcome loss in Zagreb and take tie-breaker advantage with 110-90 win
Relive the action from Sarajevo by clicking on the picture above
On another continent, the drama continued. Giving up is not in the Bosnians' vocabulary". Not even after they had to pack their bags with a 13-point loss in Zagreb, where Luka Bozic dominated with 25 points.
It would have been easy for Bosnia and Herzegovina to feel defeated after the heavy loss, but Dzanan Musa & teammates did the complete opposite: after a close (50-50) first-half, it was only the hosts that came back onto the court in Sarajevo.
A sensational 19-0 run in favor of the hosts put them up 17 points, and the crowd ensured they let the players know how they felt. The visitors weren’t able to crawl to anything closer than 13 points, as Kenan Kamejas dominated offensively to give Bosnia an emotional win.
Real Madrid teammates Dzanan Musa and Super Mario Hezonja went toe-to-toe in a superb duel that saw the former drop 19 points and 5 assists, and the latter score 28 points and 6 rebounds.
The importance of the win for Bosnia is epitomized by BIH leader Dzanan Musa’s words:
"Now I have to tell you something, the truth about this national team. Thank god we won, so I can say this: Vrabac's mom is in the hospital right now, she was literally fighting for her life, but he went out on the court, and did his best. I came from Madrid although they told me not to come. The size of Kamenjas' leg is like two balls, Gegic has a problem with his heel... We achieved an unbelievable victory. I don't need to tell you anything more about this national team. I love you Bosnia!"
Bosnia’s job is not done yet as there are still two games to play, including one against France, but the Balkans derby is in their pocket, together with the tie-breaker advantage that will give them access to FIBA EuroBasket 2025, in case of a tie at the end of the qualifiers.
4: Nenad Dimitrijevic goes bonkers against Lithuania
The curse of the 43 points strikes again… this time for Olimpia Milano and North Macedonia star Nenad Dimitrijević, who scored 43 points in a loss against Lithuania.
Like David Kramer below, the sharpshooter was in full-fire, although we’ll put him a couple of steps lower as he shot “only” 53% from the field vs Kramer’s 73%.
However, his performance was no less impressive than Germany’s silent assassin: he was incredibly effective on pick and rolls, scored in a variety of ways (from three, off the dribble from midrange, backdoor) and competed his night with 6 assists and four boards.
Unfortunately, his performance was not enough, but his name will be written in the books as the tied highest individual points in a FIBA EuroBasket qualifiers game since the change of format, together with David Kramer.
3: Las Gilas beat the Tall Blacks for the first time
Watch action from the Mall of Asia Arena by clicking the image above
The Philippines’ wait for a win against New Zealand basketball was finally over on Thursday, as a jam-packed Mall of Asia Arena witnessed history after a fantastic basketball game.
As they usually do, the Tall Blacks didn’t make things particularly smooth for Kai Sotto & co, and the lead was equally split between teams throughout the game: it was actually the visitors that spent more time (19:45) leading the game, led by a seemingly unstoppable Corey Webster.
The early lead touched 9 points for New Zealand on 4-13 from Sam Waardenburg’s three after 2:30 minutes of play in the first quarter, but Las Gilas stayed close and patient, first getting a small lead with 2 to go in the first half as a dominant Brownlee made the three.
The decisive moment, however, was in the third quarter, with a 16-0 run from the home team that secured the first double-digit lead of the game (72-60) after Tamayo’s bucket off the fast break.
The Tall Blacks crawled back as close as it gets (86-84) but Chris Newsome was lethal in the clutch and kept New Zealand at a distance.
And like this, the sold-out Mall of Asia arena celebrated a historical first, led by Brownlee’s 26 points and Kai Sotto’s 19-point, 10-rebound, and 7-assist performance.
The ticket to Saudi Arabia 2025 is punched for a talented Gilas team. What’s next for them?
2: David Kramer goes nuts against Sweden (but Germany still falls)
Relive highlights from Sweden by clicking the above image
It doesn’t happen often to score 43 points in a game of basketball. It actually has only happened twice for Die Mannschaft, with Dirk Nowitzki once dropping 47 points (in triple overtime) against Angola in the FIBA World Cup 2006 to get the W.
Kramer did it in 31 minutes of work only, while scoring 73% of his shots from the field. The La Laguna Tenerife sharpshooter had an incredible night, besting Iffe Lundberg’s previous FIBA EuroBasket Qualifiers record of 38 points (vs Czechia in 2020).
Kramer gave a true offensive clinic, being extremely clever off the ball to get easy layups (Osetkowski set him up beautifully) and converting 8 of his 11 attempts from three-point range.
Incredibly, Sweden completed a late comeback, upsetting the world champions and overshadowing Kramer’s stellar performance.
1: Santi Yusta - the Saint that saved Spain
Relive Santi Yusta's miracle play by clicking the above image
In a reference to “The Fish that saved LA”, Santi Yusta did that and more to save Spain from an incredible upset in Bratislava, where the clock said Spain down 3 with 0.4 to go, and ball in Slovakia’s hands.
In one of Mario Ihring’s most painful turnover of his career, Santi Yusta was quick to steal the inbound pass, and even quicker to release an incredible off-balance 3-point attempt that found the bottom of the net. All in 0.4 seconds.
The points 18, 19, and 20 of Santi Yusta’s 21 on the night were some of the most incredible since Mikal Bridges’ intentional missed free throw and corner three to force overtime against Canada at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
The difference is that La Roja managed to convert a near-miracle into an unexpected win, taking their destiny back into their own hands as they headed to Ourense for another meeting with tough Slovakia, a game which they won to secure a shot at defending their 2021 title.
