Montenegro fall to Greece but join Belarus in reaching Quarter-Finals
DEBRECEN (EuroBasket Women 2015) - Montenegro almost pressed the self-destruct button as Second Round Group E action came to an end in Debrecen, but eventually squeezed out a place in the Quarter-Finals of
DEBRECEN (EuroBasket Women 2015) - Montenegro almost pressed the self-destruct button as Second Round Group E action came to an end in Debrecen, but eventually squeezed out a place in the Quarter-Finals of EuroBasket Women 2015.
Greece needed a 15-point victory to dump Montenegro out of the competition and came within a whisker of completing that scenario with a heroic effort as they completed a 76-63 success to only just fall short.
Once again playing without headline act Jelena Dubljevic, Montenegro had found themselves down by 20 points just before the interval and after working their way back into the game, had to dodge a last second bullet as a triple from Aikaterina Sotiriou rimmed out.
Zoi Dimitrakou produced one of her best ever displays in a Greece vest with 29 points.
After a nervous wait for both teams, Montenegro advanced to Budapest, thanks to France beating Belarus in the last Group E game.
That result made it a three-way tie between Belarus, Montenegro and Greece as they all finished 2-3 in the group. Each team went 1-1 in the games against the other two and ultimately the Belarusians (third) and Montenegrins (fourth) progressed to the Quarter-Finals on better point differential.
"We had a chance to win and qualify without any problem and I'm disappointed with how we prepared in the first half," bemoaned Montenegro center Angelica Robinson.
"We started too slow and had too many turnovers.
"We didn't have the same mentality as before."
Meanwhile, Montenegro head coach Momir Milatovic knew his team had dodged a trip home and underlined the importance of his absent big-hitter.
"It was disappointing to be playing without Dubjlevic," he said. "Without her, we struggle defensively."
France posted a quick-fire start against Belarus and eventually rode to a 64-58 success thanks mainly to a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds from Isabelle Yacoubou.
It meant that Les Bleues finished second in the group.
Earlier in the day, table-topping Turkey ended Czech Republic's hopes of advancing to the Quarter-Finals, as Lubor Blazek's side failed to reach the Last Eight for only the second time in the last seven editions of the tournament.
Nevriye Yilmaz had with 23 points and eight rebounds in a 59-48 success for Ekrem Memnun and his team.
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