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RIGA (Latvia) – Luka Doncic showcased some more of his magic with 42 points in Slovenia’s 84-77 nail-biting victory over Italy in the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Round of 16.

The 2017 EuroBasket champs Slovenia nearly blew a 19-point lead but rode Doncic to their fourth straight win over Italy and a 9-2 mark all-time. The last loss to Italy came at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2006.

Turning Point

Doncic took a hard fall onto his right side just 36 seconds into the game. But the Slovenia star was unfazed and totalled 10 points in a 15-2 run for a 15-4 advantage. Thanks to their leader, Slovenia extended their cushion to 19 points at 32-13.

Italy showed the fight and determination that allowed them to come back from 13 points down to beat Spain in the group stage. They trimmed the gap to 45-38 and were down 50-40 at intermission. The Italians scored the first four points of the first second half to make it a six-point game.

Slovenia answered with the next nine points for a 15 point cushion, and the lead was 78-65 with 6 minutes to play. Italy responded with the next 12 points to give Slovenia a scare down just 78-77 with 100 seconds remaining.

Doncic responded with four free throws down the stretch to ice the game.

TCL Player of the Game

Doncic has been the most dominant force this tournament with one triple-double and just missing a second in addition to leading the event in efficiency, scoring and steals. Italy had zero answers for Doncic, who did whatever he wanted all game, especially in the first half with 22 points in first quarter and 30 at the break.

He ended the game with 42 points – five points off his EuroBasket record of 47 points against France at EuroBasket 2022. He made 11 of 19 shots – including 5 of 11 from long range – and 15 out of 16 free throws while also contributing 10 rebounds and 3 steals.

This was Doncic’s fourth game with 30+ points at the EuroBasket 2025. The last player to have had more such games in a single European tournament was Nikos Galis with five in 1989.

Klemen Prepelic contributed 11 points and Alen Omic collected 7 points and 7 rebounds off the bench. Simone Fontecchio led Italy with 22 points.

Stats Don’t Lie

Slovenia took care of the boards 40 to 32, grabbing 15 offensive rebounds for 16 second chance points.

Bottom Line

Slovenia are into the Quarter-Finals for the eighth time in the last nine editions and will next square off against reigning world champs Germany. Italy meanwhile saw their steak of Quarter-Finals appearances snapped at four tournaments.

Check out some of Doncic’ accomplishments in the game

Every milestone Luka Doncic reached in the Round of 16

Watch: Doncic scores 22 points in first quarter

They Said

“We knew before the game that Italy is one of the best teams in Europe. They showed that in the group stage when they almost finished first. So we knew it was going to be a tough game. It was unrealistic that we would play the whole game like we did the first quarter. When they tried to come back we stuck together and played one of the best defensive games this tournament.” – Gregor Hrovat, Slovenia

“Luka is the engine of our team. He is an NBA All-Star and superstar. I have no words for him. But today we played together on defense to get the win.” – Rok Radovic, Slovania

“We wouldn’t have needed a comeback if we started a little bit better. That is the main thing. We fought and tried until the end. But when a player like that (Doncic) gets confidence like that in the first 5-10 minutes. It’s harder.” – Simone Fontecchio, Italy

This game report will be updated in the coming moments. Stay tuned.

For more quotes, tune in to the official post-game press conference!

FIBA

By CHRIS WHEELER, NORTHERN SPORTS WRITER

Published: 18:19 BST, 7 September 2025 | Updated: 20:24 BST, 7 September 2025

Andre Onana has doubled his salary by agreeing to join Trabzonspor on loan from Manchester United for the rest of the season.

Onana is due to travel to Turkey on Thursday once the two clubs finalise the deal which will earn Onana a big pay rise due to the signing-on fee and bonuses.

United will not receive a loan fee and there is no option for the Turkish club to sign Onana permanently when it runs out on June 30.

Onana’s future at Old Trafford has been in doubt all summer after United pursued a new goalkeeper before signing Senne Lammens from Antwerp in a £21.7million deal last week.

Despite assertions from sources close to United and the player that Onana would stay, the Cameroon international is believed to have been told that the club would not stand in his way if he wanted to seek a move.

Contact was made with Trabzonspor who were in the process of selling their keeper Ugurcan Cakir to Galatasaray, and a loan deal for Onana has progressed quickly ahead of the transfer window closing there on Friday.

Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana has agreed to join Trabzonspor on loan

The arrival of Senne Lammens on deadline day pushed Onana further down the pecking order

Onana has struggled for consistency since joining United from Inter Milan for £47.2million

Onana has struggled for consistency since joining United from Inter Milan for £47.2m two years ago, and committed a number of high-profile errors.

The 29-year-old made another mistake on his only of appearance this season in United’s humiliating Carabao Cup defeat at Grimsby Town, with Altay Bayindir starting all three Premier League games so far.

Onana’s situation wasn’t helped by the fact he missed the whole of pre-season after suffering a hamstring tear on his second day back at training at Carrington in July.

United had already quoted Monaco a price of £30m while they continued to be linked with Lammens and Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez, which suggested that they were open to selling.

When United opted for Lammens over Martinez last week, it was said that the club were prepared to carry four senior goalkeepers this season, with Onana set to be away at the Africa Cup of Nations over New Year.

But once United opened the door to a move, the former Ajax keeper decided to look at his options even though he has three years left on his contract at Old Trafford.

His departure is likely to leave the way clear for Lammens to become United’s new No.1 with Bayindir and Tom Heaton as back up.

The Indian men’s hockey team were crowned Asia Cup 2025 champions after they beat the Republic of Korea 4-1 in the final at the Rajgir Sports Complex in Bihar on Sunday.

With the win, India ended their eight-year wait to regain their title and qualified for the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 in the Netherlands and Belgium. This was India’s fourth Asia Cup hockey win. Their last triumph came in 2017 in Dhaka.

Dilpreet Singh (28′,45′), Sukhjeet Singh (1′) and Amit Rohidas (50′) scored the goals for India, while Son Dain (51’) scored South Korea’s only goal of the match.

India got off to a solid start with Sukhjeet Singh scoring for the hosts within 30 seconds of the start of the game. It was a fine assist from captain Harmanpreet Singh, which was picked up brilliantly by the forward and powerfully struck a tomahawk past the South Korean goalie Jaehan Kim.

There was plenty of action in the opening quarter with India being awarded a penalty stroke with about six minutes left for the first hooter. This was an opportunity that was created by Mandeep Singh when he was taking a shot on goal, when a deliberate stick-check by a South Korean defender saw them being awarded the stroke.

However, the opportunity went begging after Jugraj Singh’s flick was padded away by Jaehan.

The second quarter saw South Korea slow down India. Jugraj was also shown a green card but young midfielder Rajinder Singh helped India win their first penalty corner in the 19th minute.

However, a good review by South Korea meant that India was denied this chance. After a brief lull in the second quarter with both teams unable to find a substantial attack, Dilpreet Singh broke the gridlock when he struck in the 28th minute.

It was a long ball by Harmanpreet Singh, received well by Sanjay, who lofted it to Dilpreet. He took a brief moment to position himself well enough to find the gap in between the goalie’s legs and earned India a 2-0 lead.

Changing sides after half-time, India got the ball rolling in the third quarter with just 10 men on the field as Sanjay had been shown a green card just seconds before the second hooter.

Only three minutes into the third quarter, India won a penalty corner after a South Korean foot in the circle. But the decision to award India a penalty corner was overturned by the on-field umpire after Mandeep’s shin hit the ball first before finding the South Korean foot.

There were a few chances created in the following minutes as India’s forward line took turns to make forays into the South Korean circle but a breakthrough came only in the 45th minute and again, it was Dilpreet who struck a fine goal.

It was Harmanpreet Singh, who was the playmaker yet again with a clever pass into the centre of the goal, and Raj Kumar Pal managed a shot before Dilpreet eventually turned it in.

Dilpreet remained the cynosure of India’s attack in the final quarter as he created a penalty corner, which was converted by Amit Rohidas. At the start of the fourth quarter, South Korea converted a goal after a good variation in a penalty corner.

Yang Jihun faked the flick and played it back to the injector Lee Jungjun, who eventually passed it to Son Dain to score. However, his goal did little to change the outcome of the match as India won the final comfortably to become four-time Asian hockey champions.