Greece stun Serbia in overtime; Belgium stay in the race
MUNICH (Germany) - The new kids on the block are delivering hits for Greece. Coach Sotiris Manolopoulos had one of the youngest teams in recent history, but still managed to defeat Serbian stars in OT.
MUNICH (Germany) - The new kids on the block are delivering hits for Greece. Coach Sotiris Manolopoulos had one of the youngest teams in recent history, but still managed to defeat Nikola Milutinov, Stefan Jovic and other Serbian stars in overtime.
That puts Serbia's chances to qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 in jeopardy, as they have to either defeat Great Britain in Belgrade, or wait for Belgium's loss to Turkey on Monday. If Serbia lose and Belgium win on the last gameday, Belgium would advance to the World Cup.
Group I
14/18 games played
| GAMES | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 | Latvia(1) (2) | 9 | 8 | 1 | 88.9 | 740 | 650 | 90 | 82.2 | 72.2 | 17 |
| 2 | Greece(1) | 9 | 6 | 3 | 66.7 | 718 | 697 | 21 | 79.8 | 77.4 | 15 |
| 3 | Serbia(2) | 9 | 5 | 4 | 55.6 | 724 | 720 | 4 | 80.4 | 80 | 14 |
| 4 | Turkey | 9 | 3 | 6 | 33.3 | 700 | 688 | 12 | 77.8 | 76.4 | 12 |
| 5 | Belgium(2) | 8 | 3 | 5 | 37.5 | 537 | 576 | -39 | 67.1 | 72 | 11 |
| 6 | Great Britain | 8 | 1 | 7 | 12.5 | 555 | 643 | -88 | 69.4 | 80.4 | 9 |
Moraitis miracle shot inspires Greek comeback
Serbia entered the game at 5-3, needing one more win to earn World Cup berth, and with their strong start to the contest in Athens, media members from all over the continent started preparing the stories on Serbia reaching another summit.
However, the fact that Serbia held Greece to 8 points in the first quarter and the fact that Serbia were on cruise control for 29 minutes and 59 seconds did not matter in the end. That's because Dimitris Moraitis knocked down a three-pointer from his own free throw line to end the third quarter, cutting the gap to 55-62 from Greece's point of view.
The three-pointer gave Greece all the momentum in the game, and with the home crowd behind them, we were in for a dramatic finish. Nikola Milutinov beat the shot clock buzzer to give Serbia an 80-78 lead in the final minute, but Moraitis erased it on Greece's last possession of the fourth.
Ognjen Jaramaz had a chance to win it at the buzzer for Serbia, but his three-pointer bounced off and marked the end of the fourth at 80-all.
It was all about Nikos Rogkavopoulos in the extra five minutes. The youngest member of the Greek team, born in 2001, knocked down three straight three-pointers in overtime, and counted to 11 after the fourth quarter, finishing the game with 28 points.
His free throws set the final score at 97-92. Greece are now 6-3, they had already secured a ticket to the World Cup, but with a squad so young that the 28-year-old Kostas Gontikas was the oldest player, a win over a strong team like Serbia must have felt special.
Nikola Milutinov finished with 24 points and 9 rebounds. Dejan Davidovac had 11 points, Dusan Ristic 10, while Stefan Jovic dished out 8 assists in 19 minutes of work.
Latvia secure top spot with a win in Turkey
Latvia already knew they would finish among the top three teams in this group, but an 84-73 road win over Turkey puts them two wins clear of everybody else with just a game left to play, meaning they will finish first in Group I, no matter what happens over the last 40 minutes of the Qualifiers.
Coach Luca Banchi enjoyed a balanced offense on the day, with ten different scorers and all 12 players seeing the floor in Turkey. Arturs Zagars had 14 points off the bench, done in less than 11 minutes of work, Toms Leimanis scored 11, while Dairis Bertans and Arturs Strautins got 10 each.
Turkey were already eliminated before this Window, but 17 points from Onuralp Bitim and 15 from Sadik Emir Kabaca will please coach Hakan Demir, knowing they are part of the new generation - Bitim is 23, Kabaca 22.
Defensive masterclass keeps Belgium in the hunt
Three straight defeats to Greece (twice) and Turkey meant Belgium's chances of reaching Asia this summer were slim to none. But with the Serbian defeat in Greece, and Belgium's comfy win in Newcastle upon Tyne, coach Dario Gjergja and his crew made it to the finish line.
It was a one-way street from start to finish on Friday, Belgium ending up with an 88-59 win over Great Britain. The first quarter was a close one, but the visitors took full control of the game afterwards, building a 16-point lead at the half and ignoring the rear view mirror the rest of the way.
Jonathan Tabu had 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc in the first half, and finished with 15 points on 5-of-5 from deep. Emmanuel Lecomte and 20-year-old Thijs De Ridder got 13 points each, Haris Bratanovic was the main man in the middle with 10 points in just 13 minutes of action.
Carl Wheatle had a team-high 15 points for Team GB, who are now 1-8. Belgium stand tall at 4-5 and hope for a tie with Serbia at 5-5, because they own the tiebreaker between the two, having won both of their matchups earlier in the Qualifiers.
FIBA