Group A: FYROM 71-81 Croatia, Israel 80-106 Greece
Nikola Vujcic – Croatia (Photo: FIBA Europe/Castoria/Vlachos)Greece finished Group A undefeated after routing Israel, while Croatia picked up a win to take into the second round by rallying to beat F.Y.R. of Macedonia 71-81 in Poznan on Wednesday. Croatia finished second place with a 2-1 record, FYROM is third at 1-2 and Israel goes home winless. In the early game, a rain of three-pointers and an outstanding Darko Sokolov helped FYROM take a 26-20 edge after 10 minutes. An 8-0 run that Real Madrid’s Jeremiah Massey capped with a layup soon made it a 14-point game as the Croatian fans started to wonder. FYROM's lead peaked at 41-24 on another basket by Massey. Vujcic and Davor Kus of Benetton Gioco Digitale fueled a 0-13 run that brought Croatia back to life, 48-46. A three-pointer by Stefanov boosted his team's lead back to 61-52, but another 0-11 run that Marin Rozic of Cibona capped with a triple put Croatia ahead for good, 61-66, with seven minutes to go. And Marko Popovic of Unics and Niksa Prkacin made sure to lead Croatia to its second EuroBasket win. Olympiacos superstar Nikola Vujcic paced the winners with 12 points and Marko Banic of Bizkaia Bilbao Basket added 11, while CSKA playmaker Zoran Planinic dished 6 assists for Croatia. Vrbica Stefanov, Sokolov and Massey each had 12 points for FYROM. Massey also had 10 rebounds. Riste Stefanov added 11 points for FYROM. Later, Greece cruised to an 80-106 win over Israel as Final Four MVP Vassilis Spanoulis totaled 18 points and 5 assists in 20 minutes. The game was for protocol only as Greece had won the group and Israel knew it was headed home already the night before. Greece pulled away with a 2-13 run at the end of the second period to take a 42-56 halftime lead and Israel never seriously threatened the rest of the way. Antonis Fotsis of Panathinaikos and Sofoklis Schortsanitis of Olympiacos added 18 apiece for Greece, while Ioannis Kalampokis scored 12 and Konstantinos Kaimakoglou 10. Caja Laboral forward Lior Eliyahu carried Israel with 21 points and 8 rebounds and Maccabi Electra’s Raviv Limonad added 15 in defeat.
Group B: Russia 64-69 France, Germany 62-68 Latvia
France became remained unbeaten and won Group B in Gdansk by edging defending champion Russia 64-69 and Germany reached the second round despite a 62-68 loss against Latvia. Russia, Germany and Latvia all finished with 1-2 records, but it was Latvia that fell to last due to the tiebreak procedure. Latvia would have advanced with a 12-point win. In the first game, small forward Kelly McCarty of Khimki Moscow kept Russia in the game early and CSKA forward Andrei Voronstevich followed triple with a layup-plus-foul to give Russia a 28-21 margin. Boris Diaw and Valencia Basket’s Nando de Colo brought France as close as 35-34 at halftime. An outstanding Anton Ponkrashov pushed Russia back ahead 47-40, but Tony Parker and Diaw stepped up big late in the third quarter to tie the score at 55-55 seven minutes to go. Diaw took over with several easy baskets and got some help from Ronny Turiaf to seal the outcome, 64-69, as Russia went scoreless in the final three minutes. Diaw paced the winners with 19 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Turiaf posted a double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds while Parker scored 17 points for Les Bleus. McCarty led Russia with 13 points despite briefly leaving the game with a leg injury. Nikita Kurbanov of CSKA added 12 while Vitali Fridzon of Khimki had 11. Later Latvia overcame a slow start with strong defense that held Germany scoreless for four minutes to take a 6-8 lead. A three-pointer by Kristaps Janicenoks and a free throw by Kaspars Kambala gave Latvia a 13-14 edge after 10 minutes. Three-pointers by Uvis Helmanis and DKV Joventut guard Kristaps Valters boosted the Latvian margin to 22-29 late in the second quarter. Germany did not find answers in offense and a buzzer-beating jumper by Bizkaia Bilbao Basket guard Janis Blums gave Latvia a 29-37 halftime lead. Demond Greene got Germany as close as 35-37 after the break, but Armands Skele and Valters gave Latvia some fresh air, 38-46. Valters remained hot and free throws by Kambala made it 46-57 with six minutes remaining. Greene struck from downtown to give Germany some hope, 51-57. Latvia seemed to be close to advancing when a three-pointer and free throws by Janicenoks gave his team a 57-68 margin. However Jan Jagla buried a triple and added foul shots to send Germany to the next round. Janicenoks led Latvia with 14 points. Kambala added 11 and Valters and Skele each had 10 for Latvia. Greene scored 16 points for Germany and Jagla was the hero with 5 of his 13 points in the final 13 seconds.
Group C: Spain 90-84 Slovenia, Great Britain 59-77 Serbia
Ricky Rubio – Spain (Photo: FIBA Europe/Castoria/Parausic)Spain survived a real scare from Slovenia before winning 90-84 in overtime to punch its ticket to the next round and Serbia took care of business against Great Britain with a 59-77 win. Spain, Slovenia and Serbia all advanced with 2-1 records, while Great Britain heads home winless. The Spain-Slovenia game was neck and neck for 17 minutes before Euroleague MVP Juan Carlos Navarro of Regal FC Barcelona stepped up to lead a 7-0 spurt as Apin took a 43-35 halftime lead. Navarro scored the first basket of the second half and his Barcelona teammate Ricky Rubio drilled a three to pump the lead up to 13. The lead reached 15 late in the third quarter and was still 13 two minutes into the fourth quarter, but that’s when Slovenia took over. Jaka Lakovic, also from Regal FCB, drained a pair of threes and Goran Dragic scored 6 points in a 0-12 charge that brought Slovenia back. Navarro’s near-perfect free-throw shooting helped Spain keep the lead, but Dragic was always there, nipping at the lead. In the closing seconds, after Rudy Fernandez put Spain up 78-75, Rubio sent Dragic to the line to avoid letting him attempt a game-tying three. Instead, Dragic made the first and missed the second on purpose. Erazem Lorbek grabbed the ball and beat the buzzer to tie the game at 78-78 and force overtime. Alas, the effort needed to comeback left Slovenia spent and Pau Gasol and Real Madrid's Felipe Reyes stood tall to wrap up the win in the final minutes. Navarro finished with 21 points, Fernandez netted 19, Reyes had 17 points and 8 rebounds and Gasol posted 13 points and 9 boards. Dragic led Slovenia with 19 points, Lakovic had 15, Bostjan Nachbar 14 and Primoz Brezec 12. Serbia’s Milenko Tepic scored 7 during a 2-17 opening-quarter charge that saw his team take control for good. Serbia led 12-21 after 10 minutes, but Great Britain clawed its way back to 20-22 thanks to Unicaja's Robert Archibald. Nevertheless, Milos Teodosic and Nenad Krstic restored Serbian control and a 29-39 halftime advantage. Krstic continued to dominate the paint throughout the second half, never allowing Great Britain a real chance and securing the win. Krstic and Tepic led Serbia with 17 points apiece and Teodosic added 11. Nate Reinking led Great Britain with 21 points and Pops Mensah-Bonsu tallied 16 in defeat.
Group D: Poland 69-87 Turkey, Lithuania 84-69 Bulgaria
Omer Asik - Turkey (Photo: FIBA Europe/Castoria)Turkey finished Group D with a perfect record after mauling host Poland 69-87 in Wroclaw. The loss was Poland’s first so far at the event. Meanwhile Lithuania ousted Bulgaria and advanced to the next round in a battle of previously winless games. For Turkey, Fenerbahce Ulker center Omer Asik shined with 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting and 8 rebounds to lead the way, while Ersan Ilyasova added 18 points and 8 boards. Turkey led from start to finish, taking its first double-digit lead after just eight minutes on a triple by Efes Pilsen playmaker Kerem Tunceri. A three-pointer from Asseco Prokom’s David Logan followed by a Szymon Szewczyk free throw narrowed the gap to 4 early in the second quarter, however threes by Ender Arslan of Efes Pilsen and Hedo Turkoglu restored the Turkish control. The lead would reach 17 before Poland got threes from Michal Chylinski and Krzysztof Szubarga to get within 34-45 at the half. Poland’s best efforts couldn’t get the hosts closer than 6 in the third quarter and a 2-15 charge to start the fourth quarter sealed the win for Turkey. Turkoglu finished with 13 points and 8 rebounds, Tunceri added 11 and Arslan had 10 for the winners. Marcin Gortat led Poland with 21 points and Maciej Lampe of Maccabi Electra scored 14. Lithuania pulled away late to ice Bulgaria 84-69 and book a spot in the next round. Lithuanian led by 2 with five minutes to play, but Montepaschi big man Ksistof Lavrinovic drilled and three-pointer and followed that up with 3 free throws as his team quickly built a 10-point lead. K. Lavrinovic and Armani Jeans Milano’s Marius Petravicius made sure the lead stood up with free throws as Lithuania snagged the win. The game was close in the early going, despite Lithuania often pulling ahead and Bulgaria catching up. The score was knotted at 41-41 at halftime. Bulgaria got hope when Todor Stoykov led off the third quarter with back-to-back three-pointers, but Petravicus and the Lavrinovic twins kept Lithuania close. It would remain that way until midway through the period, when Lithuania turned up the pressure and took the win.
Game 3, Wednesday September 9, 2009
Group A Result Group B Result
F.Y.R.O.M vs. Croatia 71-81 F Russia vs. France 64-69 F
Israel vs. Greece 80-106 F Germany vs. Latvia 62-68 F
Group C Result Group D Result
Spain vs. Slovenia 90-84 F Poland vs. Turkey 69-87 F
Great Britain vs. Serbia 59-77 F Lithuania vs. Bulgaria 84-69 F
Next Game, Game 4, Friday-Saturday September 11-12, 2009
Group E , Friday 11 CET Group F, Saturday 12 CET
Russia vs. Croatia 15:45 Turkey vs. Spain 15:45
Germany vs. Greece 18:15 Poland vs. Serbia 18:15
France vs. F.Y.R.O.M 21:00 Lithuania vs. Slovenia 21:00
