EuroBasket 2013: Spain, Slovenia fall, QFs set
Round 2 of EuroBasket 2013 is now complete and the quarterfinals are set, but not before some last minute drama as Finland upset host club Slovenia by 16, Italy put Spain on the edge of not qualifying with a 5-point win that went to overtime and last place Greece took first place Croatia to double overtime before falling by four.
Nothing changed from Game 4 after the results of Game 5, but with the Spain loss, they ended Round 2 tied with Finland with 2-3 records only making the final eight due to their 82:56 Game 3 win over Finland. Spain finishes the round in fourth place and will square off against Serbia in the quarterfinals on Thursday, 19 Sept. At the top of Group F is Croatia, who finished the round with a 4-1 record and will play Ukraine in the quarters on Wednesday, 18 Sept. Slovenia finishes Round 2 in the second spot based on winning the tie-breaker with Italy after their 84:77 victory over Italy in Game 3 and will meet France, who finished third in Round 2, on Wednesday. Italy finished third in the group and will square off with Lithuania on Thursday.
Group F
Croatia – Greece, 92:88
Croatia grabbed the top spot in Group F with a hard fought 92:88 victory over Greece that needed two extra sessions before the final result was turned in.
The clubs battled through out with neither team building more than a five-point advantage at any point and then not keeping and extended lead for any significant amount of time. Croatia outshot the Greeks 37 of 80 (46.6%) from the floor, to 26 of 74 (35.1%), but Greece was able to pick up a couple of points at the charity stripe, out shooting the Croatians 30 of 35 (85.7%) to 11 of 17 (64.7%). Croatia tipped the scales in the turnover department 18 to 8.
Greece came out of the first 10 with a single point advantage, 17:16. In the second, the teams exchanged the lead multiple times, with Ante Tomic dropping in a layup with one second to play to grab a two-point margin, 36:34, as they headed into the intermission.
Croatia built a five-point lead by the midway point, largely due to two three-point plays by Tomic. Greece quickly countered the lead, bridging the gap, knotting the score at 49. After Nikos Zisis split a pair of singles to put the Greeks up by a point, but Roko Leni Ukic sank a lay-up with one second to play in the third to go up 51:50.
Midway through the fourth quarter Ukic knocked down a triple to put Croatia up by four, but Greece countered with four straight to even up at 65. With 21 seconds to play Tomic blew a shot at icing the game by splitting a pair of singles to put Croatia up by three, 70:67. Greece got the ball back and tied things up at 70 when Zisis nailed a three-pointer with 10 seconds to play. Ukic missed a long-ball with a second left that would have giving Croatia the game, but instead they geared up for an extra frame.
Bojan Bogdanovic took over for Croatia in the OT frame, hitting a layup to open scoring. On the other side Kostas Kaimakoglou countered with a layup and then sliced the cords with a triple. Zisis knocked down a jumper to put Greece up 77:74 with 36 seconds left in the frame. Bogdanovic dropped a long-ball of his own to knot the score at 77. Zisis had an opportunity to give Greece the contest, but missed a layup with two seconds to play, sending the clubs into OT number 2.
Bogdanovic hit the first four of the second overtime, putting Croatia up 81:77. Kaimakoglou hit a pair of singles, followed by another Bogdanovic jumper. Damjan Rudez knocked down a triple to give the Croatians a seven-point lead. Zisis hit a three-pointer and then a pair of free throws, followed by Yannis Bourousis to even the score at 86. Croatia outscored Greece 6:2 over the last minute to win their final contest before the quarterfinals begin.
Bogdanovic was game-high with 22 points, with Tomic turning in a 15P/12R double-double, Ukic contributed 14. Bourousis led Greece with 21 points and 9 rebounds, Vassilis Spanoulis dropped in 18, and Zisis and Kaimakoglou each added 14.
Italy – Spain, 86:81
Italy came back from being 11 points down at the end of the third frame to draw even with Spain, then put up five points on the Spaniards in the extra frame to improve to 3-2, while dropping Spain to 2-3.
The game was full of big performances, led by Spain’s Marc Gasol, who had 32 points and 10 rebounds, as well as Alessandro Gentile’s 25 points (11 for 11 from the free throw line) and 7 rebounds for Italy.
Italy opened big, doubling Spain’s first quarter production, getting up 12, 24:12 at the end of the first 10. Spain returned the favor in the second, outscoring the Italians 25:13 to head into the break tied at 37.
The second half opened with Spain grabbing the lead back, led by Gasol’s 15 points of Spain’s 19 during the frame. As the clubs wrapped up the quarter, Spain held a 56:45 lead.
Midway through the fourth period Italy went on an 11:0 run to pull within two at 66:64 with 1:19 to play. Rudy Fernandez gave Spain a four-point margin with an alley-oop that gave from Sergio Rodriguez. Marco Belinelli connected on a layup to pull the Italians back to within a deuce with 54 seconds to play. Rodriguez hit the bottom of the cords with a jumper to put Spain back up four. Gentile dropped a layup with 21 seconds to cut the gap to two, 70:68. Rodriguez stepped to the charity stripe for Spain with 20 seconds to play and missed both singles, missing an opportunity to put the game away. With two seconds to play Belinelli missed a layup, Nicolo Melli missed a tip, but Italy got the rebound and called a time out. Luigi Datome got the inbounds play, split to defenders and tossed up a one-hander off the glass at the buzzer to send the game into an extra session.
Italy took control early in the OT running off eight unanswered points. Spain pulled to within three, but Italy connected on six of six at the line down the stretch to take the contest 86:81.
Finland – Slovenia, 92:76
Finland grabbed a final victory in EuroBasket 2013, giving the host club from Slovenia a 16-point loss. Slovenia ended Round 2 in third place with a 3-2 record, Finland finished out of the playoffs, while tied with Spain with 2-3 records.
Five Fins finished in double figures, Gerald Lee scored 17 and picked up 6 rebounds; Mikko Koivisto and Sasu Salin both contributed 16 points; Petteri Koponen dropped in 14; Roope Ahonen added 11. Bostjan Nachbar led Slovenia with 15 points and Jure Balazic added 14.
Slovenia opened the game with a 26:22 lead after the first frame, while Finland countered in the second to knot the score at 42 at the half, including a triple by Ahonen at the buzzer.
Finland blew the game open in the third with a 14:1 run on their way to a 29:14 quarter.
Slovenia opens the quarterfinals on Thursday against France.
EuroBasket Group F
Round 2 Match List[matches league_id=36 group=F template=summary dateformat=”M. j, Y”]
Standings[standings league_id=36 group=F show_website=false template=nolink]