For just twenty minutes, the unstoppable Greek national basketball team was pushed to the limit by a dangerous Ukrainian squad: 99-79, halftime 39-46. The end of the game found the Greek national team celebrating, having secured first place in Group C of EuroBasket, and being cheered on by approximately 1,000 Greeks at the Forum in Milan.
The… battle-hardened and, to date, undefeated Ukrainian team easily overcame our national team’s strong start and turned a 23-16 lead into a 39-46 deficit at halftime. However, the Greek team put on an amazing performance in the third quarter, going on a 32-11 run led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, Giorgos Papagiannis, Nick Calathes, Tyler Dorsey, and Kostas Papanikolaou. The score became 71-57, and the national team easily reached a 4-0 record without any surprises.
Giannis Antetokounmpo put on a spectacular performance and finished the game with 41 points (a career high for the national team), 13-for-16 from the field, 0-for-2 from three-point range, 15-for-18 from the free-throw line, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 2 turnovers in 27:27 of playing time.
The Greek team's lineup: Kalathis 13, Sloukas 7, Lountzis 2, Dorsey 13, Larentzakis 2, Papanikolaou 4, Papapetrou 4, T. Antetokounmpo 2, Agravanis 5, Papagiannis 6, G. Antetokounmpo 41.
The only player absent was Kostas Antetokounmpo, who is expected to return for the game against Estonia the day after tomorrow, the national team’s final match in Milan.
The game turned into a «top-of-the-group showdown” following the Ukrainians’ unexpected victory over Italy yesterday (84-73). Today, Shannon and Mykhailiuk each scored 16 points, while Len and Sidorov each scored 10.
Our national team has the day off tomorrow, and on Thursday it will play against Estonia (6 p.m.). The next day, the team will fly to Berlin, where on Sunday they will face one of the Czech Republic, Poland, Finland, or Israel in the Round of 16. The «Greek» quarterfinal is scheduled for September 13, with potential opponents including Germany, Slovenia, and France.
In a Group stage match that will determine our national team’s next opponent in its first knockout game in Prague, Poland narrowly defeated the Netherlands 75–69, led by Sokolowski (24) and Balcerowski (16).
In Cologne, the French pulled away from the Bosnians in the final five minutes: 81-68, with 15 points from Yabusele and 14 each from Fournier and Ertel. Musa, Nurkic, and Halilovic each scored 14 points for the losing team.
In the game that kicked off the fourth round of the «Greek» group, Estonia crushed Great Britain 94–62 (Drell 20, Vene 18). Finally, in Tbilisi, Turkey secured an important victory over Belgium (78–63, Sengun 24, Korkmaz 16, Osman 12), and Spain defeated Montenegro 82–65.
