ATHENS (Greece) - Once could happen to anybody. Twice, that's building a habit.
After upsetting Greece in the Second Round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 in Manila, Montenegro pulled off an even bigger upset, handing Greece a 67-65 defeat in front of the packed stands in Athens.
The whole game came down to two final possessions set up by Derek Needham. The experienced point guard ran the pick-and-roll set with Zoran Nikolic, and when the defense hedged towards him on the play, he dished out a perfectly timed assist to the big guy for the dunk.
That one tied the game at 65-all, and the following possession had a similar outcome. Needham recognized the defense would rotate to Nikolic, so he pointed Emir Hadzibegovic to the dunker spot, and after Nikolic's short roll, Hadzibegovic was all alone to finish the play and set the final score at 67-65.
Coach Vassilis Spanoulis called for time one last time, setting up a drive for Vasileios Toliopoulos, but the guard's layup bounced off the rim and out as time expired.
Montenegro and Greece are now tied at 2-1 in Group B, with a rematch coming up in Podgorica on Monday.
FIBA