Greece turned around a 14-point deficit in the final 13 minutes to finish their 2015 U18 European Championship Second Group F with a 61-57 victory over Russia. Greece were already locked into fourth place in the group and a spot in the Quarter-Finals, but the host team fought back and won to move to 3-2. Iakovos Milentigievits Alifieris led the way for the Greeks with 19 points while Vasileios Charalampopoulos collected 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Timofey Yakushin scored 15 points for Russia, who dropped to 0-5 in the group and will try to fight off relegation.
Turning Point: Russia were leading 42-28 with 3:05 minutes left in the third quarter when Milentigievits nailed two three-pointers in a 15-4 run to close the third quarter - still down 46-43. Another Milentigievits three-pointer gave Greece the lead 50-49 and the hosts never trailed again.
Stats Don't Lie: Greece forced 20 Russia turnovers and turned them into 21 points while Russia only had 10 points off turnovers. The Greeks also got 26 points in the paint to 12 for Russia. And Milentigievits' 19 points helped the Greece reserves score 38 points to 17 bench points for Russia.
Game Hero: Milentigievits nailed four of his five three-pointers and scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half. He also had one rebound, an assist and one steal.
The Bottom Line: Greece came up with a strong fightback with their bench players, which will likely help them at some time over the course of the remainder of the tournament. Russia will now try to avoid going to Division B for the first time in their history.
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