Greece loses to Montenegro, 73-69, in final World Cup game
Greece, already eliminated from the FIBA World Cup quarterfinals, ended its campaign Sunday with a 73-69 loss to Montenegro.
With the loss, Greece (2-3) finished last in Group J, the Round of 16 group. Lithuania and the USA, who were to play later Sunday, have already made the quarterfinals.
This was a game of spurts, with Montenegro rushing ahead and Greece trying to close the gap. The Montenegrins led by as many as 14 points (58-44 and 60-46) early in the fourth quarter, with Greece trying to stage a late comeback and falling short.
Motenegro, which beat Greece for the first time in six tries, dominated the paint, scoring 40 of its points there.
Ioannis Papapetrou led Greece with 16 points, followed by Lefteris Bochoridis and Kostas Papanikolaou, with 13. Nikola Vucevic scored 19 for the Montenegrins, including six straight to put the game away when Greece had fought within 58-62, and Dino Radoncic added 12.
Greece was missing the services of Thanasis Antetokounmpo, with a foot injury, and Dinos Mitoglou. Also, besides Giannis Antetokounmpo, still recovering from knee surgery, veteran guards Nick Calathes and Kostas Sloukas, guard Tyler Dorsey and forward Kostas Antetokounmpo did not play in the World Cup.
Thanks to a buzzer-beating three at the end, Greece will finish in 15th place, with a slightly more favorable point differential than Georgia. It will still be the worst result ever since it first qualified for what was then called the World Championship in 1986.
Greece can still book a place in the 2024 Paris Olympics through one of four Olympic qualifying tournaments, to be held from July 2-7. Media were reporting Sunday that coach Dimitris Itoudis will not lead Greece then, with his most likely replacement rumored to be former star player Vassilis Spanoulis.
