Sandro Mamukelashvili and Georgia opened up the second round of FIBA World Cup qualifying on Friday with a thoroughly dominant win over Montenegro, 101-74.
Georgia never trailed in the game and led for all but 13 seconds of the contest. Mamu was at the center of much of that great play, finishing with 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
He finished the game shooting 6-13 from the field and 4-8 from the 3-point
line. He added a pair of steals and had a game-high plus-minus of +36 in 36 minutes of play.
Tornike Shengelia led Georgia in scoring with 24 points along with seven rebounds and Goga Bitazde had 23 points and eight rebounds. Indiana Hoosiers legend Yogi Ferrell led Montenegro in scoring with 12 points. Nikola Vucevic retired from international play this offseason.
As things currently stand, Georgia has moved into the top three in their qualifying group. If Portugal defeats Spain, they will pass them and drop Georgia to fourth. Regardless of that result, Georgia’s next game will be against Portugal on Monday, making it a critical game for both sides.
After this pair of games, there will be two qualifying games in late November and the final two in late February and early March. Naturally, since those contests take place during the season, NBA players will not take part.
That adds another layer of importance to these games, especially for teams like Montenegro, which rely quite a bit on players in the league.
France routs Slovenia
Elsewhere in a different group in European qualifying, France had a similar result as Georgia, leading for all but 16 seconds against Slovenia en route to a 92-67 win.
A loaded French team was led by Victor Wembanyama, who had 22 points and nine rebounds. Rudy Gobert had nine points — on one field goal attempt — and seven rebounds.
Jaxson Hayes, who got a Slovenian passport to play alongside Luka Dončić, does not appear to be with the team.
Slovenia is last in their group, but only one point separates second and sixth, so it’s certainly still possible for them to qualify.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
