Two-time champions Greece continued their dominant play at EuroBasket 2015 by beating Belgium 75-54 and booking their spot in the quarter-finals and were joined by Latvia.
Yannis Bourousis scored 14 points to lead the 1987 and 2005 European champions Greece, who have not been defeated in six games in the tournament.
Kostas Koufos added 13 points and nine rebounds in the win in Lille as Greece returned to the final eight after missing out in 2013.
Belgium, who have not finished in the top eight since 1977, wasted 14 points from Pierre-Antoine Gillet.
Next up in the quarter-finals for Greece will be the winner between Spain and Poland, who were playing their Round of 16 game later Saturday.
Latvia started the day with a bit of history, beating Slovenia 73-66 to reach the final eight for the first time since 2001.
Janis Strelnieks collected 17 points, six rebounds and eight assists to lead Latvia to the victory, while Kaspars Berzins added 13 points, six rebounds and five blocks.
"This one of the biggest victories for the country," said Rolands Freimanis, who chipped in eight points and four rebounds.
"It is a really long time coming. It's an unbelievable feeling. I cannot express what I am feeling. Everybody is happy. We are not done yet. We made a little bit of history. We will enjoy this today, but we will be prepared for the next game."
Latvia's quarter-finals opponent will be the winner of the game between reigning European champions and hosts France and Turkey, who were playing later Saturday.
Zoran Dragic scored 17 points for Slovenia, who had reached the quarter-finals in the last five EuroBaskets.
The other four Round of 16 games will be played on Sunday as Croatia take on Czech Republic; Serbia play Finland; Israel face off against Italy; and Lithuania battle with Georgia.
0 comments:
Post a Comment