PRAGUE (Czech Republic) - The Group D hosts were once again without injured star Tomas Satoransky, but still found a way to avoid falling into a 0-3 hole by holding off the Netherlands into it to claim a 88-80 win.

The final score doesn't paint the real picture. Czech Republic, that led by as many as 23, could've and should've won the game with a bigger margin, but at the same time, they also avoided the biggest comeback of FIBA EuroBasket 2022, because the Netherlands were within three points with 30 seconds to play.

Turning point: After building a gigantic lead with a near perfect first half, Czech Republic turned into spectators in the second half, watching as Yannick Franke, Worthy de Jong and Jesse Edwards kept eating into the deficit, eventually making it a one-possession game in the final minute.

That's where the crowd got involved, giving Ronen Ginzburg's team one final push. The arena erupted as Ondrej Sehnal found Martin Peterka alone in the corner, and the big guy knocked down his sixth three-pointer of the game to put it out of Oranje's reach.

TCL Player of the Game: It could've been Jan Vesely for his 24 points on 9-of-10 shooting, but when it mattered most, Martin Peterka delivered. The catch and shoot specialist is now a head-turning 12-of-16 from beyond the arc in FIBA EuroBasket 2022.

Stats don't lie: Sometimes, it's all about seeing the ball going through the hoop. Czech Republic made 34 field goals, eight more than the Netherlands who struggled with the rebounds and lost that battle by 12 boards.

Bottom line: Czech Republic rise to 1-2 with games against Finland and Israel coming up, putting them in a good position to chase two more wins which would see them through to the next round.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands have a mountain to climb. They will face Poland and Finland, they need to win both of those games and hope it is enough.

They said:

"We showed in the second half against Serbia how we want to play. Today we did it for 35 minutes, I'm happy with the performance as a team. Team win, on the defensive end, we controlled it well, after that it was much easier to play the offense." - Jan Vesely, Czech Republic

"The first half was good, the second half, that beginning of the third quarter, we had some problems on defense, but we will go over it. Like I said, this was the start of our EuroBasket, I believe we will continue. I don't want to say a thing about Martin Peterka's shooting, I don't want to put this bad luck on him. Martin's strength is the outside shot. But today he was good on defense, had two steals, was in good positions." - Czech Republic coach Ronen Ginzburg

"It was really bad in the first half, kind of embarrassing. That's how I felt. We had a good talk at half, we showed some pride for the national team, for the flag. That's what I care the most about. We're at FIBA EuroBasket, every millimeter has to be earned, they will not give it to you. We need to know that. People on the court want it more than us. That's what we have to know, and go back to the tape. There's still two games to go, still chances for us." - Yannick Franke, Netherlands

"We had a very, very good second half. Sorry for the last two mistakes that cost us the game. But I am happy for Yannick, it was a great comeback, I'm happy that Jito Kok was okay after one crash, but couldn't play in the second half. We want to win one game. Everybody needs to hear it: We want to win one game. We are Netherlands, but we want to win one game." - Netherlands coach Maurizio Buscaglia

FIBA