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Records and milestones tumble as Finland continue home EuroBasket preparations

Lauri Markkanen broke the Finnish scoring record against Belgium
Lauri Markkanen broke the Finnish scoring record against BelgiumČTK / imago sportfotodienst / Vesa Pöppönen / All Over Press
Finland's preparations for co-hosting EuroBasket 2025 are building nicely, with two huge wins over Belgium in Jyvaskyla on Friday and Espoo on Monday.

Friday's first encounter saw Finland romp to a 105-62 victory, with Utah Jazz star Lauri Markkanen setting a new national team scoring record for a single game with 48 points, in what was his first appearance since March.

It was a special match also for Finnish captain Sasu Salin, who represented the Wolfpack for the 150th time and scored 17 points in the process.

On Monday, Finland made it two from two against the Belgians, with another comfortable victory - 92-74 in front of over 4000 fans at the Espoo Metro Arena.

Markkanen again led the team in terms of points, but with the slightly more modest total of 31 points this time out.

But the landmarks kept flowing for the home side, as the win was Finland's 500th victory in their history.

"Game feel and fitness are a little different than just running around the gym alone. I'm close to game fitness and my legs feel good," Markkanen said of his fitness to Helsingin Sanomat after the match.

Finland will play two more warm-up matches before EuroBasket, both against Poland; on Sunday 17th August in Sosnowiec and on Thursday 21at August, returning to Espoo.

EuroBasket 2025 begins on 27th August, and the 24 competing teams have been split into four groups of six. One group each is being held in Finland, Cyprus, Latvia and Poland, with the Nokia Arena in Tampere playing host to all the Group B matches.

Finland play their opening Group B match on the first day of the tournament against Sweden, before taking on Great Britain, Montenegro Lithuania and Germany. Belgium will be playing in Group D in Poland.

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