Jaka Lakovic hit three long bombs in the big stretch on his way to 26 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

Though they finished sixth at EuroBasket 2005, nobody partied harder than Slovenia after a win over Croatia guaranteed them a spot in the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan. 

There are not many National Teams who can say that they have a veteran of four EuroLeague Final Fours (two of which ended in championships) on their roster but Slovenia is one of them. Because of injury, Smodis has only represented Slovenia in two EuroBaskets - 1999 in France and 2001 in Turkey - and even though he had some problems with his back last season, both Slovenian fans and National Team coach Aleš Pipan hope that he will be at his best at in Spain.