Dubljevic leads the way, Montenegro punish Belgium in the paint

TBILISI (Georgia) - Montenegro repeatedly found good looks at the basket and did just enough to record a respectable 76-70 win against the feisty Belgium in Group B.

The victors needed to land several blows, though, to keep Belgium at bay. Retin Obasohan pushed in transition as he scored 25 points, yet the Lions couldn't close the margin below 8 points before the last minute of the game.

Turning point: Even though Montenegro couldn't feel overly comfortable until the last possession of the game, their 70-50 lead early in the fourth was too big of an obstacle for Belgium to overcome. 

Kendrick Perry and Vladimir Mihailovic played important roles in creating that advantage as both guards dazzled the audience with beautiful baskets.

TCL Player of the Game: Bojan Dubljevic had his first double-double of the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 with 21 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and a couple of savvy defensive plays.

Stats don't lie: It was the second game in a row that Montenegro thrived when playing in the post. Belgium might have had more points in the paint, but Montenegro got what they needed with the 36 paint points of their own.

Bottom line: Both teams now have one win in two games as the battle in Group A only intensifies. Of course, Montenegro having the tiebreaker might end up being crucial.

They said:

"It's just a matter of reading the defense as the game goes on. Vlado Mihailovic is a guy like me who pretty much stays in attack mode. Whether his shots are falling or not, he's going to continue to be himself. That's one thing I hated of him competing against him, but now that I'm on the same team I love it about him. We need that from all of our guys." - Kendrick Perry, Montenegro

"I can say that for 37 or 38 minutes we played perfect defense. Because of the importance of the game we were so nervous at two moments - when it was +16 and +20 for us . We then had a couple of mistakes on offense and then on defense. Most important thing is that we won the game." - Montenegro coach Bosko Radovic

"We knew we had to play physical through the whole 40 minutes. We didn't do that. But we have to remember the 25 really good minutes and especially the comeback at the end of the second half. We showed our real purpose - fight on everything and aggressive on defense." - Pierre-Antoine Gillet, Belgium

"Offensively we were sterile. We didn't move the ball enough. If one guy like Dubljevic needs to go out so much, you need to punish that. You need to execute better. We missed ball movement." - Belgium coach Dario Gjergja

 
FIBA