The basketball team of Montenegro has learned the name of the second rival in the next phase of Mundobasket - it will be Greece, which after a big turnaround and a better game in the second half defeated New Zealand - 83:74.
The match between Greece and Montenegro will be played on Sunday. Our national team played against the Greeks four years ago in China, and the Hellenes won 85:60.
Today, the Greeks reached the second stage with a lot of difficulty - they defeated New Zealand in the decisive match, even though they were in the deficit for more than 30 minutes.
New Zealand played a great first half, had a maximum of 15 points (43:28), but completely failed in the rest.
The team of Dimitris Itudis opened the second half with six tied points, came to minus five (43:38), then had possession of the deficit, but was in the minus until the last period.
And then, in the fourth quarter, Janulis Larencakis was the first star on the field, he scored five points in a row, and the Greeks completed the series 7:0 and took the lead (57:54) after a three-pointer by the Olympiakos basketball player.
After two points by Larentsakis and an additional free throw, Greece had a double-digit advantage for the first time (71:61), and at one point there was a maximum difference of 11 (75:64), so New Zealand was unable to get back into the match.
Larentsakis finished the match with 20 points. Ioannis Papapetrou had 27 points and Tomas Vokap had 10 points.
With New Zealand, Ili was the most effective with 27 points.
The defeat of the New Zealanders was welcomed by the Australians, who now definitely secured a place at the Olympic Games in Paris as a representative of Oceania.
Bonus video:
