Turkey 67-76 Greece: City’s fall brings them a hug with qualifying in the world

The men’s national team put in a terrific performance for three seasons, topping +16 and just as Turkey thought they were about to subvert, two big threes from Dimitris Agravanis cut the hosts off. Sotiris Manolopoulos’ team won for the second time in three days at the neighbors (76:67) and has one foot in the final stages of the World Cup – they already have the ticket for the second qualifying round.

Dimitris Agravanis and Giorgos Papagiannis broke Turkey’s high line with 43 points and 20 rebounds. Impressive Costas Sloukas lead in the last quarter, especially when the hosts pushed for the fall.

The assessment in the group

1. Greece 3-1
2. Turkey 1-3
3. Belarus 1-1
4. Great Britain 1-1

The rest of the group’s games

• Greece – Great Britain (June 30)
• Turkey – Belarus (June 30)
• Great Britain – Turkey (July 3)
• Belarus – Greece (July 3)

The postponed games

• Belarus – Great Britain
• Great Britain – Belarus

The MVP

It’s not easy to single out just one. George Papagiannis (21 points, 9 rebounds) did a great job, Costas Sloukas (9 points, 9 assists) led the way in the last quarter, but it was Dimitris Agravanis who finally choked Turkey on the break. The Prometheus forward unleashed two big threes in the last five minutes, clearing for Greece and transferring the pressure to the opposition. The 27-year-old finished the game with 22 points (with 5/11 two points, 4/7 three points, 0/1 shot), 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 errors and 1 steal in 32’12” involvement.

The weak link

Sadik Kampatza offered an impressive phase in the first part, nailing George Papagiannis in the face, but overall he couldn’t do anything significant. At 14’58” on the floor, he had just 2 points (with 1/5 shots) and 4 rebounds, along with 1 assist and 1 error.

The stat that stood out

Ethniki’s 6/10 threes in the third quarter were crucial, giving him a clear winning lead. Accordingly, Dimitris Agravanis’ back-to-back accurate rim shots (he was 2/5 up to that point) played their part in the final score. Overall, Greece shot 44.83% from threes (13/29), while Turkey scored just 29.41% (10/34) in the same statistical category.

The race

It took three and a half minutes for Greece to score their first points of the game. However, he did not pay for the event because he managed to balance the game very quickly. Dimitris Agravanis emerged as a key attacking pillar, both near and far, for the men’s +2 (15-17) in the final of the first period – a period in which the players of Sotiris Manolopoulos 2/7 had three – Pointer and 3 bugs.

The second ten minutes started similarly, Turkey stepped on the gas and turned the situation around (22:17 in 13′), but the national coach’s timeout at the time proved to be a catalyst for the change of dates again. George Papagiannis finished the stages close to the basket, the defense against Shane Larkin was excellent and somehow Greece ran a small streak in the final of the second period to finish the first part at +3 (33-36). The lead gained even more value considering that key Greek players like Costas Sloukas and Giannoulis Larentzakis had 0/8 shots and 3 penalties.

The third ten minutes was… perfect for Greece. Except for the first minute, when Melich Mahmutoglou had 2/2 threes, our national team dominated. With Kostas Sloukas making excellent assessments of Turkey’s defense and the internationals shooting superbly from long range (6/10 threes in the third period), the men’s national team was up to +16 (46-62). in the 30th minute, with George Papagiannis now just a breath away from the double-double (19 points, 9 rebounds).

Within five minutes, however, the internationals managed to demolish what they had built up over three seasons. Turkey put on a great run (14-0) in less than five minutes to turn the match into a derby (60-62 in 35 minutes). Sotiris Manolopoulos had to call a second time-out within minutes, but unlike the first, it worked. After the break, his players came back calmer, taking out collected defense and heading in for the end with two big threes from Dimitris Agravanis at +8 (62-70) at 1’45”.

From then on, it was all about staying calm out of the line of fire. Costas Sloukas and Giorgos Papagiannis had 3/3 in the same phase (the first executed the shot from the technical penalty against Melich Mahmoutoglou) and secured the Greek lead, which could not be overtaken until the end.

The national team celebrated their second consecutive victory in three days over Turkey, who are now close to qualifying for the final stages of the World Cup.

THE REFEREES: Rosso-Glisic-Baldini.

THE TEN MINUTES: 15-17, 33-36, 46-62, 67-76.

TURKEY (Ene): Larkin 16 (2/7 three points, 6 assists, 5 errors), Haltali 4 (7 rebounds), Mahmutoglou 15 (5/10 three points), Tuncer 10 (2), Kampatza 2 (1/5 shot ). ), Birsen 12 (1/6 threes, 13 rebounds), Gegik, Savas 6, Gazi, Ulumbai 2 (1/6 shots), Özdemiroglu.

HELLAS (Manolopoulos): Agravanis 22 (4/7 three points, 11 rebounds), Sloukas 9 (2 three points, 9 assists), Papagiannis 21 (8/12 two points, 5/6 shots, 9 rebounds), Papanikolaou 8 (2 /7 three points) ), Moraitis 10 (3/6 three points), Larentzakis (0/5 shots, 2 assists), Kalaitzakis 3 (1), Mouratos, Kouzeloglou 3 (1), Gondikas, Gikas.

Group Statistics – Turkey: 17/38 two points, 10/34 three points, 3/3 shots, 40 rebounds (22 defensive + 18 offensive), 17 assists, 14 errors, 5 steals, 1 block.

Group Statistics – Greece: 14/32 two points, 13/29 three points, 9/12 shots, 38 rebounds (26 defensive + 12 offensive), 24 assists, 15 errors, 4 steals, 1 block.