Greece stand as last undefeated European team following home win over Germany

PATRAS (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - Greece remain as the only undefeated team (9-0) in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers following a hard-fought 92-84 home win against previously unbeaten Germany on Friday.

In a battle of two teams that had already booked their tickets to China 2019 in the last window, Ioannis Bourousis led the way for the Greeks with 25 points and 7 rebounds while Giannoulis Larentzakis added 19 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists as the team took over control of Group L.

Germany dropped to 8-1 despite Robin Benzing picking up 27 points and Ismet Akpinar totalling 13 points.

Turning point: Germany trailed by as many as 14 points and then pulled to within 75-72 midway through the fourth quarter. But Ioannis Athinaiou nailed a three-pointer and Bourousis made two free throws to stretch the advantage to eight and the visitors did not get closer than 5 the rest of the way.

Game hero: Bourousis was an unstoppable force as he made 11 of 16 shots and also added 3 assists and 3 steals. 

Stats don't lie: Germany turned the ball over 10 times and Greece converted that into 20 points off of turnovers. Greece shot 58 percent from the field while Germany were held to 48 percent, including just 22 percent from three-point range.

Bottom line: Greece are in the driver's seat in Group L but have a tough test coming up on Monday as they travel to Belgrade to face Serbia, who will be extra motivated for a victory after losing to Israel and dropping to 5-4. Germany meanwhile head back home to host Estonia. In the back of their minds, both teams know Germany still will host Greece in the final game of the window on February 24, 2019.

They said: "It was a tough game for us. Both teams wanted to win, wanted first place in the group. I think we played a very good game on offense. We scored 92 points. On defense we relaxed a little bit in the second half. On the rebounding, we received a few easy points, but in three days of preparations it's very difficult to make everything work so good. For us, it’s very important because with this victory we are for sure at least second place in the group. And we look forward to finishing first. We have to continue to play tough. We have a very difficult game in front of us with Serbia. They need the game very much. And we also go there with two fewer players. Ioannis Bourousis is leaving to go back to China and Charis Giannopoulos is injured. We thank both of these guys very much, and we will continue. About the fans, we would like to thank all the people of Patras and for the hospitality and the support today. We hope to come back here to play more games." - Greece head coach Thanasis Skourtopoulos

“It was a tough game as usual. We had very little time to prepare but it was very important to win for the team." - Greece center Ioannis Bourousis

“Congratulations to the Greek team. It was a worthy win. Both teams have shown in these Qualifiers that they can play good basketball and this is a good game to show why these teams had been previously unbeaten and why Greece now is still unbeaten. They know how to play basketball. They move the ball very well. They shot the ball very well when they were open. (Ioannis) Bourousis is a problem for everybody. How do you play this guy? Do you let him go one-on-one? Then he does. Then you double team him and he passes the ball well. It was a very difficult match-up. He did a very good job today. Except for the lapse that we had at the end of the first quarter, beginning of the second quarter I thought our team fought really well and tried as hard as they could and played some good basketball. We had some open looks in the end to get the game maybe even closer. In the end, Greece deserved the win and again congratulations to the coaching staff for how well they prepared this game and to their team." - Germany head coach Henrik Rodl

FIBA