MNE/ITA - Montenegro make hot start but Italy falter
PODGORICA (EuroBasket 2011) - Nikola Pekovic lived up to all the hype as he led Montenegro to a huge 96-66 win over Latvia in their opening EuroBasket qualifying game in Group A. Pekovic scored 26 points in less than 26 minutes of action as Montenegro won it at a canter. Goran Jeretin added 13 points for Montenegro, while Predrag Drobnjak and ...
PODGORICA (EuroBasket 2011) - Nikola Pekovic lived up to all the hype as he led Montenegro to a huge 96-66 win over Latvia in their opening EuroBasket qualifying game in Group A.
Pekovic scored 26 points in less than 26 minutes of action as Montenegro won it at a canter.
Goran Jeretin added 13 points for Montenegro, while Predrag Drobnjak and Omar-Sharif Cook each had 11.
Janis Strelnieks was the only Latvian to get into double figures with 13 points.
Montenegro will now look to go to 2-0 against Finland on Thursday while Latvia must bounce back against an Italy side left reeling from an opening home loss to Israel.
Simone Pianigiani's side got a clear sign of how long their road back to the European elite is likely to be as they lost their opening qualifier 79-71 in Bari.
Italy trailed almost the entire way against an Israel side out to extend the country's record of not having missed a EuroBasket since 1991.
Italy raced into an 11-3 lead, their run capped by Marco Belinelli's dunk, but Israel soon got back on level terms before taking control.
Yotam Halperin led Israel with 16 points, while Yuval Naimy and David Bluthenthal had 10 each.
Andrea Bargnani and Marco Belinelli finished with 20 points each for Italy.
Great Britain almost squandered a 14-point lead but found an extra gear late in the fourth quarter to start their campaign with a 91-82 win in Hungary in Group B action.
Luol Deng led the way with 32 points on his return to competitive action, having missed last year's EuroBasket with a stress fracture.
Britain were looking good for a comfortable win after an 18-5 run put them 51-38 up just before half-time.
But Hungary stormed back and led going into the final quarter before Britain found an extra spurt at the end.
Nate Reinking finished with 16 points while Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Dan Clark each had 14, Mensah-Bonsu adding 18 rebounds.
Also in Group B, FYR Macedonia got off to an excellent start in their qualifying campaign with a 71-58 away win over Ukraine.
Pero Antic scored 24 points as Macedonia finished the game on a 16-3 run to win it.
In Group C, Georgia laid down a clear marker as they opened their qualifying campaign with an 84-65 rout of Poland.
Zaza Pachulia poured in 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the charge, while George Tsintsadze and Viktor Sanikidze had 14 points each and Manuchar Markoishvili also made it to double figures with 12.
Thomas Kelati, making his competitive debut after gaining citizenship earlier this summer, led Poland with 22 points while Maciej Lampe added 21.
But Marcin Gortat was held to 10 and Poland were outrebounded 44-21.
Poland will need to regroup before hosting Portugal on Thursday, but Georgia will head to Belgium full of confidence.
Portugal have ground to make up themselves after Bulgaria stormed back to take a tough 67-59 victory in Ovar.
Bulgaria had squandered a double-digit lead to trail 59-55 with 6:37 to go in the game, but they finished on a 12-0 run to snatch the win from the hosts.
Filip Videnov sparked the decisive run with a three-pointer and scored seven of his team-high 17 points in the closing stages.
FIBA