GRE/SLO - Greeks edge Slovenia to take EuroBasket bronze

KATOWICE (EuroBasket 2009) - Greece ended their EuroBasket campaign on a high by holding on for a 57-56 win over Slovenia to capture the bronze medal.
 
Under the leadership of Lithuanian coach Jonas Kazlauskas and despite the absence of several veteran players this summer, the Greeks prevailed by riding the broad shoulders of Sofoklis Schortsanitis in their last game.
 
Schortsanitis had arguably his best game in a Greek shirt.
 
He came off the bench in the first quarter after Ioannis Bouroussis picked up two quick fouls and from the minute he stepped onto court, he dominated with 23 points.
 
"I am very proud of my players, they did great in the short time we had," Kazlauskas said.
 
"I had only three players here with experience at this level, but they still did a great job winning a bronze medal.
 
"Today's game wasn't maybe very nice for the fans, but it was a match where the result was the most important thing."
 
Both teams had already achieved their main aim of reaching the FIBA World Championship by winning their respective Quarter-Finals.
 
The difference in the bronze-medal game was the presence of Schortsanitis.
 
Slovenia did everything they could to stop him, fouling him 12 times, but he made nine of 12 free-throws.
 
With Greece trailing 13-9, Schortsanitis scored eight points in a 14-0 run that put his team in front for good although Slovenia closed the gap to just one on several occasions, last at 57-56 when Jaka Lakovic buried a three-pointer with nine seconds remaining in the contest.
 
Slovenia weren't able to foul to stop the clock until four seconds remained when Uros Slokar put Vassilis Spanoulis on the line.
 
Spanoulis, who struggled all night with his offense, missed both free-throws and Slovenia rebounded but the best shot they could get was a desperation running jumper from Bostjan Nachbar in his own half and he was off target.
 
Slovenia were among the best supported teams at the EuroBasket, and the players paid tribute to them.
 
"Despite our injuries, we went into the game against Greece brave and tough," Slokar said.
 
"Unfortunately, we did not make it to the third spot and did not win any medal, but we must not forget that we made a step forward in comparison to the previous championship.
 
"I would like to say thank you to all our fans who supported us here. We could not have made it this far without you."
 
FIBA