Greece will play USA, Egypt and France in the Final 8 round of the FIBA 2009 U/19 World Championships in Auckland, New Zealand, after finishing third in their group with two wins and one loss. The matches will take place on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Greece crushed Angola 101-58 in the tournament’s opening match, a win which the young guns backed up against the fancied Puerto Rico 98-107, giving the Greeks a dream start to the tournament.
But against Lithuania, the previously high-scoring Hellenic offense struggled to find its rhythm, ultimately going down 85-70 after a huge finish by Lithuania saw off the challenge.
Lithuania 85
Greece 70
Lithuania avenged their loss at the 2008 U18 European Championship, after a strong last quarter to set up a 15 point victory over Greece at ASB Stadium in Auckland.
Despite leading by 2 points at three quarter time, Greece was no match for Lithuania’s dominant 27-10 final quarter, which ultimately gave them top spot in Group A.
The first three quarters were particularly close, with Lithuania leading by just one basket at each change, 19-17 at quarter time and 40-37 at the half.
Ultimately Lithuania’s superior accuracy from the field gave them the edge, after they shot 51% from the field to Greece’s 33%. Lithuania also dominated the boards, grabbing 45 rebounds to 30.
Donatas Motiejunas was Lithuania’s star, with 23 first half points.
He would finish with 28 points on 11/17 shooting, 15 rebounds and 7 assists in a ‘man of the match’ performance.
Gediminas Orelik scored 20 points and Tautvydas Julius Slezas scored 10 and grabbed 9 rebounds. For Greece, Kostas Sloukas and Evangelos Mantzaris both scored 14 points, and Kostas Papanikolaou scored 13 points.
Puerto Rico 98
Greece 107
The European Champions faced a vastly contrasting style in the form of Puerto Rico, and a superb offense gave Greece the win despite failing to restrict Puerto Rico’s free-flowing style.
In the highest scoring game of the tournament to date, the Latin Americans began more brightly, but 17/19 free throw shooting in the opening period kept Greece within three, 32-29 at the first break.
The high scoring continued in the second period, with Greece leading 60-54 at half time thanks to the play of big men Kostas Papanikolaou (17 points, 9 rebounds for the half) and Vlantimir Giankovits (12 points).
Defence took over in the third quarter as both teams struggled to connect from the floor, leaving the score 79-77 in Greece’s favour with one quarter to play.
Guard Mike Rosario scored 25 second half points and at one stage in the final quarter it appeared he might carry Puerto Rico to victory.
But it was Greece that executed best and converted from the free throw line in the final minutes. With just 4:30 remaining Greece led 87-86.
From there Leonidas Kaselakis (20 points, 5 assists), Nikolaos Pappas (20 points, 5 assists) and Papanikolaou (25 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks) made big plays that broke the Puerto Rican resistance. Giankovits finished with 24 points and 7 rebounds.
Greece 101
Angola 58
Greece’s opening match of the tournament was little more than a training exercise, as the Hellenes blitzed Angola.
Greece coach Georgios Vlassopolous said before the tournament that defence is his team’s weapon, and it proved too much for Angola to handle on day 1 of the FIBA U19 World Championship.
The Angolans did not let Greece have it all their own way, trailing by just 28-19 at quarter time, but the Europeans champions’ defence held Angola to eight points in the second quarter to set up a 45-27 half time difference, from which the African runners up would never recover.
Vlantimir Giankovits led Greece with 15 points in the decisive first half, and finished with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Guard Nikolaos Pappas top scored with 20 points on 8/14 field goal shooting.
Greece left Angola with a reminder of their tough defence in the final term, holding their opponents to just seven points to secure the 43-point margin.
Defensive rebounds were dominated by Greece, as they grabbed 30 to 19.