The Greeks had five games to show some muscle and prove they belong in the top tier of European basketball, and they used the last quarter of their last Eurobasket 2017 group game to finally do it.
Coach Kostas Missas’ players dominated the last quarter of their game against Poland in Helsinki on the way to a 95-77 win, which brings them to Istanbul against Lithuania. On the other hand that’s the end of the road for feisty Poland.
Greece led at half time by six (49-43), however Poland stayed in the game and got the 59-58 lead thanks to a made three by Lukasz Koszarek. Τhe third quarter ended with Greece having the lead again (70-67).
That was the start of a run by Greece which managed to lead by 12 points (87-75) with a partial 17-8 score in the last quarter. There was not coming back for Poland.
Playmaker Nick Calathes had an amazing game with 24 points and 10 assists and together with Kostas Sloukas who also scored 26 points, they proved that they can play much better compared to what they had done so far in the tournament.
Both Greek guards achieved a career best in scoring as members of the Greek national team.
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