PODGORICA (Montenegro) - Montenegro defeating Greece on the road in Athens was one of the biggest upsets in FIBA Basketball World Cup European Qualifiers history, as Greece had been perfect at home until then.
Vasileios Toliopoulos probably had a sleepless night or two, as he was the one who missed the biggest shot of the day in the first matchup. However, he decided to make amends in the second one.
The sharp shooting point guard knocked down five of his seven three-pointers in the first half alone, pouring in 27 points with 10 assists, 5 rebounds and an efficiency rating of 34.
In a game that finished 79-65, Greece were a +25 team with him on the floor.
"Sometimes the shots go in, sometimes they don't. Friday was one of those nights when nothing goes in, nothing we could have done about it," Toliopoulos said.
"We didn't like at all that we lost on Friday, because we have the quality and wanted to prove that we are the better team."
"Whenever the team needs us, we will always answer the calling."
With 27 points, he set his new national team career-high, surpassing the previous mark of 26, which he had reached twice, against the Netherlands and Czechia, both during the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers.
With 10 assists, he reached the double digits for the first time in his national team career, eclipsing the 8 assists he had against the Netherlands, also in EuroBasket Qualifiers.
With 5 rebounds, he tied his national team career-high, set against Montenegro on Friday.
The efficiency rating of 34 is by far his personal best as a senior team player, and the first time he climbed over 30 in that department.
The only players Greek players who scored more in a single game of the European Qualifiers than Toliopoulos are Giannis Antetokounmpo (40 points vs. Serbia), Nick Calathes (31 vs. Georgia) and Nikos Rogkavopoulos (28 vs. Serbia).
Star names on that list, always showing up for the national team.
"Whenever the team needs us, we will always answer the calling," Toliopoulos said.
FIBA