The basketball teams of Georgia and Puerto Rico registered their first victories at Mundobasket.
Today in Okinawa, Georgia convincingly defeated the Cape Verde Islands (85:60) and reached the first victory in the history of the world championships, while Puerto Rico beat South Sudan 101:96 in Manila after overtime.
The Cape Verde Islands had plus six at the start (8:2). After that, everything happened in the favor of Georgia, which had a 12-point advantage at the beginning of the second quarter, while at halftime it was plus plus 26 (48:22).
Shengelija was the most efficient player for Georgia with 15 points. Bitadze scored 15, and Sanadze scored 12.
With Cape Verde, Mendes with 11 and Gomes with 10 points were the most effective. Real Madrid basketball player Eddie Tavares finished the match with six points and 12 rebounds.
When it comes to the match between South Sudan and Puerto Rico, the African team controlled the match from the start, had a 10-point lead at halftime (52:42), but Puerto Rico managed to win overtime in which it won.
South Sudan led 74:67 in the last quarter, Puerto Rico then went on a 7:0 run and tied the game two minutes before the end (74:74).
In the last minute, South Sudan entered with a three-point advantage (78:75), and then Puerto Rico took the lead after a counterattack and a goal by Romero (79:78). There were 16 seconds left until the end, and the African team failed to put the ball in the game for five seconds.
Then Puerto Rico reached plus three through Waters (81:78), and drama followed until the end - Jones equalized (81:81), and then South Sudan did not block the basket well, so Romero was fouled 0,3 seconds before the end . He had two free throws, but missed both, and the game went into overtime, in which Puerto Rico pulled out the win.
The most effective for Puerto Rico was Thompson with 19 points, while Jones stood out on the other end with 38.
On Monday (13.30:10.00 p.m.), Georgia will play against Slovenia in the second round, while South Sudan will play against China (XNUMX:XNUMX a.m.).
Greece also won the first round, defeating Jordan 92:71.
Although the victory is convincing, the Hellenes struggled to get it. At halftime it was 46:34 for the Greeks, and then Jordan played the third quarter perfectly and at one point came to minus three - 61:58.
However, in the last period, things fell into place, the Greeks got serious and finally reached a convincing triumph.
Larencakis led Dimitris Itudis' team to victory with 19 points. On the other side, Hollis-Jefferson was the most effective with 24 points.
In the next round, on Monday, Greece will play the USA (14.40:10.45 p.m.), and Jordan will play New Zealand (XNUMX:XNUMX a.m.).
Bonus video:
