Greece rally late to thump Puerto Rica 98-84; FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men
In the last game of the preliminary round in the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the mighty Greeks pulled off a huge second half to beat Puerto Rica 98-84.
Greece was paced by a 27 point performance from Vasileios Spanoulis. The guard shot 9-of-15 from the floor, including 4-of-8 from the three point range and 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Ioannis Bourousis and Georgios Printezis
followed with 16 points apiece while Nikos Zisis chipped in with 13.
Puerto Rica also had four players in double figures. Peter Ramos led the way with 15 points and a game high 7 rebounds; Jose Juan Barea had 13 points and 4 assists; Renaldo Balkman also scored 13 on a 5-of-5 shooting while Nathan
Peavy managed 10.
Vasileios Spanoulis scored the first 13 points for the Greeks, who were leading by 20-15 with a little over 4 minutes to go in the first quarter. After some stern resistance in the proceeding couple of minutes, the Greeks managed
to break free with a 7-2 spurt to carve out a 30-22 advantage.
On the next Puerto Rican possession, Andres Rodriguez found David Huertas open beyond the line and then closed the quarter with a jumper of his own, reducing the deficit to 27-30.
In the first 3:20 of the second quarter, both teams went cold from the floor. Greeks outscored the South Americans 5-2 in that span to solidify their lead, but a 6 nothing run nearly midway, made it a one point game at 37-38.
Puerto Ricans tied the game at 42 minutes later, and despite another spell of brilliance from Spanoulis, they closed the first half at 47-49.
The South Americans carried on with their momentum after the interval and burst into the lead thrice early on. However, they were just not able to pull off that one decisive spurt, which could have given them a definitive advantage.
The Greeks hung tough in that span and eventually raced away to a 10-2 run which closed the third quarter at 70-62.
In the last quarter, the Puerto Ricans pulled within four early, and then at the midway mark, but a 12-0 ensuing assault from Greece knocked them out of the game for good.
The South Americans out-played the Greeks from the two point range, but couldn’t match their effort from the land of three. Greece managed to sink 14 of their 24 attempted three’s while Puerto Rica went 5-of-20. The stat eventually
turned out to be the difference in the game.
Greece will now take on Nigeria in the 1/8 playoffs while Puerto Rica are placed against Lithuania.
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