ORADEA (Romania) - All eyes in Group B were on the game in Romania, as Greece had a chance to advance to the Second Round and pull Portugal through as well.
Romania had other plans, though.
With a sublime defensive effort, Romania erased what was a 14-point deficit to storm through and win the game 73-66.
The crucial moment happened at 69-66 in the final minute, Emi Cate blocking a layup attempt to put an exclamation mark to the "Upset!" headlines of this game.
With Greece being ranked #12 in the FIBA World Ranking Presented by NIKE, and Romania all the way down in 63rd spot, this sets the new record in terms of the difference between the two teams.
In Window 1, the Netherlands shocked Latvia with 43 spots between the two nations in the World Ranking, while Window 2 saw Iceland defeat Lithuania despite being 36 spots behind them.
After shining with U-BT Cluj-Napoca, Daron Russell continues to be the basketball hero in Romania, putting in 20 points for his nation in this win. Romania were +12 with him on the floor.
Lucas Tohatan played his best game for the national team, putting up 13 points with 6 assists, as 10 different players scored for coach Mihai Silvasan.
They won't settle for this win alone. Romania now have a chance of reaching the Second Round, entering the last game in Montenegro at 2-3.
Coach Vassilis Spanoulis and Greece dropped to 3-2 despite getting 16 points from Giannoulis Larentzakis, and a 10-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist double-double from Kostas Papanikolaou.
FIBA