MILAN (Italy) - Croatia found just enough in the last minute of a compelling duel to hold off Estonia 73-70 on Monday. Although the Baltic nation remains winless at FIBA EuroBasket 2022, the Croatians were threatened with an upset as the Estonians’ volume of thee-point shooting kept them within reach until the last.

The Croatians overcame a slow start to take a 33-29 half-time lead and every surge afterward was met by another and even when Croatia went 57-48 in front early in the fourth, a rally came. 

Maik-Kalev Kotsaar had the chance to tie the game with 2:58 left on a three-point play but his free throw missed its mark. His subsequent dunk with 1:39  left cut the gap to 68-67 and even though he hit 17 points and Siim-Sander Vene a game-high 18, missed opportunities from the foul line proved costly.

Dario Saric had his fourth double-double in a EuroBasket with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Turning Point: Janari Joesaar picked up three free-throw attempts with 9 seconds left when he was fouled by Dario Saric - he missed the first, made the next two, but Estonia trailed 70-69 and it tipped the scales.

TCL Player of the Game: Karlo Matkovic was active early to end up with a team-high 17 points for Croatia, on a perfect 8-8 shooting from the floor and added 4 rebounds and 2 steals for good measure. He is the first player since 2015 to score 16+ points in a EuroBasket game with 100% from the field and from the foul line.

Stats Don’t Lie: Estonia were out rebounded 45-32 but the critical gap was bench scoring:  33-11 in favor of Croatia. Depth mattered, especially as the game entered the final stretch and clear minds were needed. Croatia also had nine steals, the most for them in a EuroBasket fixture since 2009 when they also tallied nine steals against Russia.

Bottom Line: Croatia have moved to the brink of reaching the knockout phase of FIBA EuroBasket 2022. Estonia are not yet eliminated mathematically but face an uphill struggle after dropping to 0-3 in the standings. 

They said: 

"If we win tomorrow against the home crowd, we'll feel more good in our heads. We will get more motivated because the first two games, we had two slow starts. This game again. slow start into getting the pace and then second half, it's better. This game was the same like almost like the whole game. So we've got to start from the start, fight to get the defensive rebounds, run to position, because that's what gives us points." - Karlo Matkovic 

"We can get better in the low post game. Even today we had 13 turnovers - it's too much especially in first 10 minutes. But when you play a team like Estonia which has great shooters, is under-sized with athletic skill, it's difficult. Because we put a smaller lineup in, we were switching all the picks. In the second half we can be satisfied with that. When we were attacking pick and roll, we were making better decisions. We can be better in a lot of ways." - Croatia head coach Damir Mulaomerovic

"It's been a long summer. It's the first time for many players to be in this level at EuroBasket. I think first and foremost they are on each other. We keep on playing, despite losing chances to qualify for the top 16. And secondly, for our fans who travel here, to keep our head up and play two more games so well as we can. Right now, it's really tough. And there's not much time but I'm still confident that we don't quit here." - Estonia head coach Jukka Toijala

FIBA