1951 EuroBasket
| FIBA EuroBasket 1951 | |||||||
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| 7th FIBA European Basketball Championship | |||||||
| Tournament details | |||||||
| Host nation | France | ||||||
| Dates | 3 May – 12 May | ||||||
| Teams | 18 (from 26 federations) | ||||||
| Venues | 1 (in 1 host city) | ||||||
| Champions |
 Soviet Union (2nd title)
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| MVP |
 Ivan Mrázek
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| Tournament leaders | |||||||
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| Official website | |||||||
| EuroBasket 1951 (archive) | |||||||
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< 1949
1953 >
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The 1951 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1951, was the seventh FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. Eighteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) entered the competition, a record number and more than twice the number that had competed two years earlier. The competition was hosted by France, who had taken second place at EuroBasket 1949, behind 1949 hosts Egypt. The Vélodrome d'hiver, Paris was the location of the event.
72 matches were held over the course of the tournament, including the three walkovers caused by Romania withdrawing after the competition schedule had been set.
In the preliminary round, the 18 teams were split up into four groups. Two of the groups had five teams each, with the others having four each. Romania withdrew, leaving 2 groups of 5, 1 group of 4, and 1 group of 3. The top two teams in each group advanced to the quarterfinal round. The seven teams that had placed third and fourth moved into the classification rounds, leaving one more spot in that round two be contested in a head-to-head match between the two fifth-place teams.
The two fifth-placed teams from the preliminary groups, Denmark and Luxembourg, played a single elimination game for the honor of being the eighth team in the consolation round. The game was perhaps the closest in Eurobasket history; it was tied at 45–45 with Peter Tatalls at the free throw line with 5 seconds left. Tatalls made the shot, putting Denmark ahead 46–45. Luxembourg moved the ball up to about half-court before attempting a shot just before time expired. The shot bounced off the rim, eliminating Luxembourg from the tournament and giving Denmark their first win of the tournament as they moved into the classification round to play for 9th–16th places.
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