Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina secure Final Round spots in Group H

SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina) - Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina both locked up their tickets to the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 with victories on Sunday - though Greece's win looked very much in doubt.

Both teams needed wins of their own plus the others to be victorious to see them through to the 2022 spectacle with two games remaining in Group H. Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina both are now 3-1 while Latvia and Bulgaria fell to 1-3 following action in Sarajevo.

Bulgaria had Greece with their backs to the wall, leading by 16 points in the second quarter and still ahead 68-63 with 29 seconds left in regulation. That's when Ioannis Athinaiou took over, hitting two three-pointers before Chavdar Kostov split two foul shots with 17 seconds left to make it a two-point lead. Dimitrios Katsivelis sent the game to overtime as he threw down a dunk with 11 seconds remaining.

Athinaiou drained two more three-pointers in the extra session and Evangelos Mantzaris also hit from deep for the 84-78 victory over Bulgaria. Athinaiou led all scorers with 21 points while Vassilis Kavvadas added 14 points and 6 blocks. Kostov wasted 15 points for Bulgaria, who will face Latvia in the first game of the final window having won the first matchup with the Latvians 110-104.

"We came into this game with a lot of pressure after the previous game - the loss to Latvia. That cost us in the beginning. But we never stopped believing we could come back. We knew we would need some crucial shots. Today it was me and I am happy about that, but I am happier we won the game," Athiniaou said.

While Greece have played at the last 16 FIBA EuroBaskets - and won the competition in 1987 and 2005 - Bosnia and Herzegovina return to the continental championship after missing out on the 2017 edition.

The Bosnians used a 10-0 run at the end of the first half to grab control of the game 40-28 and built the lead to as many as 18 points late in the third quarter. Latvia were able to trim the deficit to as low as four points inside the final four minutes but could not complete the comeback, Bosnia and Herzegovina winning 79-73.

“Fantastic, we are going back to the EuroBasket for the first time in seven years. It's an amazing feeling. I congratulate everybody who was part of this," said Bosnia and Herzegovina coach Vedran Bosnic. "Nobody expected up to beat Latvia but we did it. We played with the same energy two times within 48 hours and that was great. We are all very proud."

Edin Atic and Kenan Kamenjas both scored 19 points for Bosnia and Herzegovina, who dominated on the glass 46-33. Rihards Lomasz scored 19 points to pace Latvia, who did not help their own cause by converting just 12-of-22 free throws.

FIBA