Greece safely through
Greece safely through
FIBA WORLD CUP - GROUP F (MATCHDAY 3)
Greece have safely qualified for the second phase of the 2019 FIBA World Cup after defeating New Zealand 103-97 in China.
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After conceding a bitter defeat to Brazil on Tuesday, Greece were in danger of suffering a shock exit in the first group stage, but the team rallied to secure a 103-97 victory against a plucky New Zealand team in the final match of Group F. The Episimi Agapimeni qualify for the second stage as runners-up behind Brazil, while New Zealand and Montenegro move down to the classification round.
Greece will face the USA and the Czech Republic in the Round of 16. Head coach Thanasis Skourtopoulos will certainly want to address the defensive issues ahead of those matches.
Before tip-off, New Zealand performed their well-known Haka with the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Giorgos Printezis watching on:
Nevertheless, that didn’t prevent Antetokounmpo from playing at his best, as the 24-year-old scored 24 points, picked up 10 rebounds and dished out six assists. Ioannis Papapetrou (16 points), Nick Calathes (14 points), Printezis (13 points) and Thanasis Antetokounmpo (10 points) also reached double figures.
New Zealand’s Corey Webster was the top scorer of the match with a whopping 31 points.
THE MATCH
Initially, New Zealand kept pace with their opponents in the opening minutes, but Greece would click into gear and open up a nine-point lead (28-19). NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who struggled to settle in the first two matches of the competition, made a statement of his intentions with two fierce jams:
However, despite that positive start, Greece would then lose the next two consecutive quarters to make the match rather tense.
New Zealand regularly got within four points of the Greeks as the momentum began to shift. The Tall Blacks claimed the third and fourth periods 25-23 and 22-20 respectively.
It was set up to be a nervy fourth quarter, but in the first minute of the decisive period, Papapetrou drained two successive three-pointers to give Greece a bit of breathing space.
The opponents continuously got within striking distance of Greece, but as the climax of the game approached, a crucial three-point shot from Nick Calathes handed the team a 10-point advantage with 120 seconds remaining.
Refusing to give in, New Zealand did eventually reduce the deficit to six points, however that didn’t make any difference to the outcome as the Greek dream stays alive.
Group F standings:
Brazil, 6 points
Greece, 5 points
New Zealand, 4 points
Montenegro, 3 points
HIGHLIGHTS
by Shaun Nicolaides
Image Source: sport-fm.gr
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