GRE - Zisis still a game-winner

VILNIUS (EuroBasket 2011) - Greece may no longer have Dimitrios Diamantidis in the fold, and Vasileios Spanoulis is hurt, but at least one veteran guard is still around and leading the way.

His name is Nikos Zisis, and the 28-year-old showed once again he is the man for the big occasion.

Zisis had 19 points to lead the Greeks in a 69-60 triumph over Slovenia on Thursday night.

He scored eight in the final frame, including a couple of three-pointers in the last 1:11 as the Greeks improved to 2-1 in Group F and moved closer to the Quarter-Finals.

"Nikos is an experienced player, a very good player," said Greece forward Konstantinos Papanikolaou.

"He talks to the team and he does everything in the team and helps us a lot.

"Today he also had to carry us in scoring and we made it."

Papanikolaou had a big game himself, hitting two three-balls in the fourth quarter and corralling six rebounds.

Greece coach Ilias Zouros is the man trying to keep the momentum going.

"It was a very big win for our team," he said.

"Congratulations to my players, to my staff, who did excellent scouting.

"We played very good defense. In the crucial moments that we couldn't score, we made crucial stops.

"We scored crucial baskets at the end. The match-up zone was excellent and we stopped the rhythm of Slovenia."

Greece's young players are determined to prove they still belong among the top teams in Europe.

The Greeks won EuroBasket 2005 and shocked the United States at the 2006 FIBA World Championship in the Semi-Finals to reach the title game.

They are fourth in the FIBA World Rankings.

"This team has a story behind it," said the 21-year-old Papanikolaou.

"We're here to do the same, make the Greeks proud of us.

"We can't just give up.

"We want to give everything on the court and take what we can take."

FIBA