Estonia survived a third-quarter fightback from FYR of Macedonia to claim a 72-66 win and remain top of Group B in the EuroBasket 2007 qualifying round.

Martin Muursepp was the star for the winners, pouring in 17 points and pulling down five rebounds in a contest that was still in the balance heading into the closing moments.

The first quarter was a nip and tuck affair with neither side managing to stretch away by more than four points and it ended with the Estonians holding a 14-10 lead.

Estonia flew out of the blocks in the next period, however, and by the middle of the quarter they had stretched their lead to 15 points.

FYR of Macedonia cut the lead to 12 points at the half time interval but it was back up to 16 early in the third before the Macedonians sank 15 unanswered points to put themselves back in the match, trailing by just seven heading into the final quarter.

Estonia time and again edged further in front but could not fight off a resilient FYROM, and there was only three points separating the teams with less than three minutes on the clock.

But a strong defense and a steady stream of free throws eventually saw Estonia hold on for the win by six points at the buzzer.

Vlado Ilievski enjoyed a game-high 20 points for plucky FYROM.