RIGA (Latvia) - Looking at how Montenegro and Cameroon entered the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2024 in Riga, everybody was anticipating a dogfight.
As expected, that is what the two sides brought onto the court, displaying a 40-minute battle characterized by hard physical contact.
But with a third-quarter boost, Montenegro bounced back to take a 68-61 success after losing to Brazil in their previous game. It means the Africans will now need to upset the Seleção to survive.
Turning Point
Montenegro looked stuck offensively in the first twenty minutes of the encounter.
Head coach Bosko Radovic must have woken spirits up in the locker room because they returned from halftime with different faces. Luka Bogavac's transitioned layup was the spark for a decisive 15-2 run.
The Cameroonian national team had occasions to come back again into the game, but Montenegro eventually escaped with the win. Without that earlier stretch and building of a cushion, it wouldn't have probably happened.
TCL Player of the Game
Marko Simonovic was by far Montenegro's winning factor. He finished with 18 points and 6 rebounds, making 9 of 9 at the line, to earn TCL Player of the Game honors. In the first half, he scored 14 out of Montenegro's 29 points.
After already providing a solid effort of 15 points and 6 rebounds in yesterday's opening defeat against Brazil, the 25-year-old again turned up once again - this time with and even more decisive contribution.
Stats don't lie
Montenegro's approach to opening the third quarter was crucial to get the job done. It's not surprising, therefore, to see them going from 8 of 31 from the field in the first to 14 of 31 in the second.
Second-chance opportunities also played a big factor in Montenegro's victory. Those came thanks to a tireless effort on offensive rebounds. They captured almost double more than their opponents with 17 to 9.
Bottom line
Bosko Radovic's national team can breathe after facing elimination ghosts. But they surely need a better approach from the first minute if they advance to the Semi-Finals.
On the other end, Cameroon came really close to upsetting the 11th-placed team at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, surprising everybody. Their character could bring them to another positive performance against Marcelinho Huertas and their teammates.
This was also another occasion to see Jeremiah Hill and Kendrick Perry go up against each other. They already squared off twice in the 2022-23 ACB, with Unicaja Baloncesto coming out on top on both occasions.
Cameroon's guard had 19.5 points per game on those two losing efforts, and every European basketball fan knows how much Montenegro's playmaker can be tough to deal with.
However, they aren't living their best of tournaments so far. Perry has been shooting 7 of 29 in his first two games in Riga - but banked in the 'and-1' play to close the encounter; Hill had 10 points and 9 assists in today's debut, but struggled to make an impact overall.
Luka Bogavac, instead, was the player to follow in the last minutes of the encounter. With back-to-back daggers from the arc, the 2003-born secured the red-and-yellow victory.
Nikola Vucevic finished with a double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds.
They said
"I don't have a lot to say. The only positive thing in our game tonight is this victory. I'm tired, I was coaching three games in a row. Basketball is like that. We were playing a very good game last night, we lost. Tonight, it was all reversed." Montenegro head coach, Bosko Radovic:
"At this stage, we know we are going to get everybody's best shot. We expect everybody to play their best, it's a chance to go to the Olympics, the big show." Montenegro guard, Kendrick Perry:
"Our players played hard and they gave a great fight this afternoon. We came up short. Our lack of size was apparent, as we gave up 17 offensive rebounds. They brought a great fight." Cameroon head coach, Alfred Aboya
"I think the same thing. They out-rebounded us, that's where the game was decided." Cameroon forward, Bryce Eyaga
FIBA