Slovenia take out Serbia 72 – 68 in a close FIBA EuroBasket tie - Part 2
Serbia had threatened to come close in the second quarter and Slovenia, sensing some danger, came out to kill the game after the interval.
The energy levels were up and the Slovenian side was terrific on defence in the third quarter. During the period, they extended their lead and cemented their advantage, outscoring the opponents 20-to-12. Combined with their earlier
advantage, this meant that by the end of the third quarter, the Slovenians sat at an almost unassailable lead of 13 points with the score at 64 – 51.
Goran Dragic was particularly hot during the third quarter and scored a total of 10 points in a spurt lasting just 2 minutes.
The game seemed pretty much dead entering the final period but Serbia weren’t done just yet. The Serbs produced an inspired display at the start to the 4th quarter and went on a 13 – 0 run, levelling the scores 64 –
64 with 4:21 remaining in the game.
From there however Slovenia hit back with some big shots of their own. Dragic and Jaka Lakovic provided the impetus from their side, who scored 8 points to end the game compared to just 4 from Serbia.
The last push gave Slovenia victory, ending the game with the score card at 72 – 68.
Overall field goal percentages from the two sides were almost identical. Slovenia made 26 of 59 attempted shots while Serbia connected on the same number from 60 attempts. What really hurt the Serbs was the deadly shooting from
downtown by Slovenia. Slovenia hit an amazing 13 shots from beyond the three-point line, a full ten more than Serbia.
The numbers for assists, turnovers and rebounds were all pretty close as well, therefore it is safe to say that the accuracy of Slovenia’s shooters turned the tide in their favour.
Slovenia Guard Goran Dragic admitted that it was a tough game and gave credit to Serbia for their strong display. He said his side was happy to get the win in the end.
“It was a tough game for us. We said in the locker room before the game that we'll play hard to win to stay honest to ourselves. We worked hard in the last weeks towards this championship and we really wanted to make a good finish
for all this hard work. I'm happy we beat Serbia and go home with a sweet taste.”
Slovenia Head Coach Bozidar Maljkovic revealed after the game that he was just relieved not to have had a player injured before important coming games.
“The most important thing is that nobody got injured in this game. The fans saw two very good teams. I think it was a very good game with a lot of good moves. This was a good game to watch before the main games expected tomorrow.”
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