2024-07-17 13:20:35
Puerto Rico trailed 55:48 after the big break, and the Greeks chased their opponents for more than 16 minutes.
With 32 seconds left, Kostas Papanikolaou put the Greeks ahead 66:65, and G.Papagiannis took a free throw. One penalty hit was enough for the win. The Greeks did not have Giannis Antetokounmpo in this match.
For the winners, 18 points were scored by K.Mitoglou (8 rebounds), 13 by G.Papagiannis (7 rebounds), 10 by K.Papanikolaou.
For Puerto Rico, Isaiah Pineiro added 12 points, Jose Alvarado and Ch. Ortiz 11, Ismael Romero 10.
In the Olympics, the Greeks will fight against Australia, Canada and Spain, while Puerto Rico will fight against the Serbians, the Americans and South Sudan.
Meanwhile, in Abu Dhabi, the Australian national team led by Patty Mills beat the world vice-champions of Serbia 84:73 (20:15, 19:25, 23:19, 22:14) in the control match.
It all came down to a fourth quarter stretch by the Aussies late in the fourth quarter as they went on a 12-0 run to pull within 78-67 and celebrate the eventual victory
Experienced Australian defender P. Mills was unstoppable – in 28 minutes, he collected 28 points (3/6 doubles, 4/7 triples, 10/11 penalties), made 5 assists and collected 35 utility points.
The tall duo Nikola Jokicius and Filipas Petruševas stood out among the losers.
N. Jokičius scored a double-double – in 28 minutes he scored 14 points (6/8 doubles, 0/2 triples, 2/3 penalties), rebounded 14 balls, made 3 assists, 2 blocks and 30 utility points.
F. Petruševas scored 17 points in 24 minutes (7/9 doubles, 1/3 triples), rebounded the ball 3 times and recorded 19 utility points.
It was already the sixth control match for the Australians: before that they played twice against Japan – 90:89 and 95:95 and China – 107:87 and 91:58, and on Monday they lost to the USA basketball team 92:98.
Meanwhile, it was the second test match for the Serbs, who beat France 79-67 last week.
2024-07-17 13:20:35