THESSALONIKI (Greece) - The presence of a legendary player may have inspired Greece to pull off a much-needed win. Nikos Galis enjoyed the view in the end, as Greece defeated Belarus 77-67 to bounce back after their opening day defeat in Great Britain.

Belarus were a tough nut to crack, but behind loud support from the stands of the Nikos Galis Hall, the hosts turned it up on defense in the final quarter to go 1-1 after the first FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers window.

Turning point: Belarus made it back to 62-60 early in the fourth quarter, but Greece decided that was as close as they were going to get. The hosts forced four turnovers the rest of the way, and a combined 2-of-8 shooting from the field.

As much as Greece showed muscles on defense in the fourth, Belarus also shot themselves in the foot by going 2-of-8 from the free throw line from the moment it was 62-60 on the scoreboard.

In the end, it turned out to be a double-digit win because Dimitrios Agravanis picked the perfect timing for his only three-pointer of the night.

Game hero: Although Agravanis and Leonidas Kaselakis had 14 each, it was another big guy who made his presence felt on both ends of the floor. Kostas Gontikas scored 13 points, with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal. Greece were +11 with him on the floor.

Stats don't lie: Belarus ended the game with 17 turnovers, allowing Greece to open up a 21-12 advantage in points from turnovers. Also, they failed to punish Greece for 16 missed free throws.

Bottom line: Before the window, coach Rostislav Vergun probably would've taken a 1-1 record. But having been so close to 2-0, picking up just one win must feel bitter-sweet for the Belarus playcaller. Meanwhile, Greece avoided a dangerous 0-2 hole before two matchups with Turkey in February.

They said: "Greece is a quality team and it was an interesting game to watch, which I hope fans enjoyed watching. If we look at the stat sheet we will see that we had the better field goal percentage and we got good ball movement, we had 17 assists, but unfortunately two important things in such a physical game were the turnovers, which allowed Greece to score some easy points, and the free throws." - Belarus head coach Rostislav Vergun

"First of all a big thanks to the fans of Thessaloniki, they gave us great energy. I also have to mention that Nikos Galis was here in the arena and it was a big thing and I want to pay my respects and thank him. Thirdly I would like to thank my players and my associates for the way we prepared for this game. My associates did a great job preparing the team, since I had the problem with Covid and in effect I only had one practice with the team. If we look at the stats we have proof that my players gave everything they have. Three days ago this Belarus team, which is very good, scored 84 points against Turkey and today they scored 69. So a big thanks to my players for their effort and we look forward to the next games." - Greece head coach Sotiris Manolopoulos

FIBA