Sweden's European Championship adventure in Tampere began with a really sweaty drama against Finland.
Sweden pressed the host nation all the way and led by four points when less than seven minutes remained. But Finland turned to lead.
Sweden, who got a furious Pelle Larsson fouled out with less than a minute left, was behind 90–93 and 9.1 seconds left.
A three-pointer was required to force an extension.
Melwin Pantzar shot – but the shot hit the rim and the loss was a fact shortly after.
Ludvig Håkanson became the top scorer with 28 points, but was critical of the referees allowing the home team to play hard in the end.
In the end, they are on the border and quite honestly, they foul us all the time, he says to SVT.
When asked what he thinks of the refereeing performance, he replies:
I think it's better not to say anything. No comments.
Counterflow in the start
The long-awaited premiere – the men's national team's first European Championship match in twelve years – began with almost everything going against Sweden.
Finland rushed to a 6–0 lead in two minutes.
As if that were not enough, Sweden's star Pelle Larsson got two fouls at the same time – and had to sit down on the bench.
The other NBA player on the court, Finland's giant Lauri Markkanen, managed to do almost everything, and in the stands at the massive Nokia Arena, the audience may have thought they were witnessing the start of a rout.
Sweden wanted something completely different.
Not least, the two players in the squad with European Championship experience from 2013, Viktor Gaddefors and team captain Ludvig Håkanson, stepped forward. Gaddefors was the one who brought Sweden into the game, and Håkanson was then incredibly hot – 15 points and four assists before the break – when Sweden went up to a five-point lead at most.
Disrespectful debutant
Sharp was also Barra Njie, who came in from the bench and played completely disrespectfully in his European Championship debut. But Finland managed to finish the first half with six straight points for a narrow lead, 49–48, at halftime.
Sweden had a hang – despite only four minutes of play and not a single point from Pelle Larsson so far.
The second half began with Lauri Markkanen dunking in his 18th point. Larsson responded by scoring his first. Markkanen sent in a three, whereupon Larsson responded with a new two-pointer.
The neighboring countries followed each other in a lovely European Championship premiere, where Ludvig Håkanson continued to score almost everything – six of his seven first three-point attempts hit the basket.
Before the fourth period, it was 72–72, and the last ten minutes had to decide the drama.
There, it was not enough all the way for the Blue and Yellow.
We make a match that is enough to win at this level. It feels a bit bitter. But I'm also proud of how we take on the match, says national team coach Mikko Riipinen.
Now Germany is waiting in the next match on Friday.
