Watch | FIBA Pre-Qualifying Tournament Europe | Dutch National Team

ISTANBUL, Turkiye – Senior David N’Guessan continued his strong play for The Netherlands with a near double-double in an 89-81 loss to Croatia to end pool play at the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament Turkiye in Sinan Erdem Arena on Wednesday (August 16).

With the loss, the Orange Lions (1-2) fell one point short of advancing out of Group D to the semifinals on Friday (August 18). Croatia (3-0) and Sweden (2-1) advanced out of the group to final phase, where they will meet host Turkiye (3-0) and Ukraine (2-1) out of Group C with the finals set for Sunday (August 20).

After going scoreless in the win over Belgium on Tuesday (August 15), N’Guessan responded with 10 points and a team-tying 8 rebounds in 22 minutes in a start against Croatia. He went 4-of-8 from the field, including 1-of-1 from 3-point range. He was one of three Dutch players to register double figures.

A native of De Lier, The Netherlands, N’Guessan finished the 3-game tournament, averaging 9.0 points on 55.6 percent (10-of-18) shooting, including 50 percent (2-of-4) from 3-point range, with 6.3 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 26.6 minutes per game. He was second in rebounding and third in minutes, while he was fifth in scoring.

N’Guessan opened the tournament with a near double-double of 17 points and a team-high 9 rebounds in the Orange Lions’ 91-89 overtime loss to Sweden in the first game of the tournament on August 13. He finished the game with a team-best +24 efficiency rating, as he connected on 6-of-9 from the field, including 1-of-1 from 3-point range, to go with a team-highs in both rebounds (9) and blocks (3) in nearly 35 minutes of action.

N’Guessan was officially announced to the Dutch National Team on August 12, joining 12 others for the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament. He was among four current collegians on the team, including West Virginia’s Jesse Edwards, Cleveland State’s Tristan Enaruna and Nebraska’s Rienk Mast.

The Pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in Istanbul is one of five such tournaments around the world, including Tallinn, Estonia and Gliwice, Poland; Damascus, Syria; Lagos, Nigeria and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The winners of the five pre-qualifying tournaments will join 19 nations from the 2023 FIBA World Cup (which includes Team USA) to create a field of 24 nations for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments, which are scheduled for June and July 2024. A total of 40 nations will qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The rest of the Wildcats are in the midst of a historic 10-day trip to Israel and Abi Dhabi. After winning their first game of the tour – a 94-87 win over the Israeli Select Team – on Tuesday (August 15), they arrived in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday evening (August 16). They will play a second game against Mexico on Thursday (August 17) at 8 a.m., CT / 5 p.m., local at Etihad Arena.

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