RUS/CIV – Russia barely hold off Ivory Coast

ANKARA (2010 FIBA World Championship) – Russia just about survived a furious late rally by Ivory Coast to register a 72-66 win.

The Russians led 68-55 with 1:40 left to play, but Randoald Dessarzin’s side charged back to get within 68-66 as Mouloukou Diabate stole the ball from Sergei Bykov at midcourt and went in for a lay-up with 21 seconds to go.

The minnows  decided to foul Vitaliy Fridzon and he made good on his free-throw attempts and  Russia closed the game out from the charity stripe.

With 30 seconds to go and Ivory Coast down 68-58, Guy Edi made four of five free-throws after Sergey Monya was called for an unsportsmanlike foul on a three-point attempt.

Guy then hit a lay-up for a 68-64 score before Diabate got his steal and lay-up.

Kinidinnin Konate grabbed a loose ball and drove the length of the court to get his team within 53-48 early in the final frame, but David Blatt’s team answered with a 10-0 spurt and looked headed for a comfortable win.

The game was tied at 12 after Mohamed Kone made a pair of free-throws with 1:13 left in the first quarter.

Russia moved in front as Timofey Mozgov got an easy dunk and Fridzon buried a three at the buzzer for a 17-12 advantage. They converted their opponents’ six turnovers in the period into 12 points.

They got their first double-digit lead, 22-12, on a lay-up by Mozgov that capped a 10-0 run with 8:49 to go in the first half.

The Ivorians had trouble in their defensive rotations and Sergey Monya made the most of that, hitting two wide open three-pointers for a 32-18 advantage. But they fought back and finished the second quarter with nine unanswered points. Guy Edi hit a three-pointer and Mamadou Lamizana made a lay-up.

They then locked down on defense, forcing the Russians into a shotclock violation and making them take contested and questionable shots.

Pape-Philippe Amagou fed a streaking Kone for a dunk and the big man then made a pair of free-throws to get Ivory Coast within 34-30 by halftime.

Ivory Coast kept their defensive intensity up early in the third period, forcing their another shotclock violation and Lamizana drawing a charge from Kaun.

Konate made a lay-up and Mouloukou Diabate went coast-to-coast to edge his team in front, 37-36, but that was short lived as Sergey Bykov was fouled while shooting from beyond the arc and he made all three free-throws.

Brice Assie hit a long jumper to tie the game at 40.

Mozgov then took over for Russia, scoring nine of his team’s last 13 points in the period for a 53-44 advantage heading into the final frame.

Quotes:

David Blatt (Russia head coach): “I congratulate Randoald Dessarzin for the great job he has done with his team. He is a classy person and has a real good idea about basketball. The Ivory Coast played hard.”

“This is the last Russian National Team I will be coaching. This team is not as strong as before as we are missing many of the main players. Our best player (Viktor Khryapa) cannot play because he’s injured. I admire the guys we have here, they’re all fighting. We don’t have the kind of team that can win a medal but we have the kind of team that can fight hard and make the people at home proud.

“I like the FIBA World Championship more than the Olympic Basketball Tournament because there are more teams and more styles. I feel sorry for our guys who didn’t come and missed it.”

Timofey Mozgov (Russia centre): “We played good defense and showed more team play at the end of the game.”

Randoald Dessarzin (Ivory Coast head coach): “It was a tough loss. One big problem for us was concentration. It was a good game until the last minute. We didn’t run in transition enough. We shot too much from the perimeter.”

Brice Assie (Ivory Coast centre): “This was a tough game, it came down to the last minute. We just have to keep on fighting. It was a tough game until the last second.”


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