Friday in Turin, Italy, one of FIBA’s three Olympic Qualifying tournaments reached the semi-final stage. In the first final four matchup, Greece met Croatia for the right to advance to Saturday’s championship game against the winner of Italy vs. Mexico.
Croatia jumped out to a commanding 31-13 lead after the first quarter, Brooklyn Nets’ Bojan Bogdanovic, who scored 11 of his 20 points in that initial frame.
Plenty of time remained, however, and Greece used it to embark on their furious comeback attempt. After a stellar second quarter, the Greeks cut the lead down to 10 at the half, then held the Croatians to just 8 points in the third quarter.
With Croatia’s lead down to 52-49 at the start of the fourth quarter, it was suddenly anyone’s game. But Croatia’s defense stifled the Greeks in the final frame, allowing the Croatians to go on a 10-2 run over the first 6:15 of the fourth, essentially putting the game out of reach.
Greece played bravely for the remainder of the match, but were held at an arm’s length by Croatia, who ended up winning by a score of 66-61.
Bojan Bogdanovic’s 20 points lead the way for Croatia, while the future Philadelphia 76er, Dario Saric, chipped in 16 points and 8 rebounds. The Orlando Magic’s Mario Hezonja finished with 6 points in the contest.
As for the Greeks, they were lead by Efstratios “Stratos” Perperoglou, who finished with 13 points. The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokonmpo had a rough night, shooting just 3-14 from the field and turning the ball over 6 times. His brother Thanasis, who plays for the New York Knicks’ NBA Development League affiliate, added 5 points, and the Sacramento Kings’ Kosa Koufous chipped in 4.
Saturday’s final will take place at 21:00 EST, as Croatia face the winner of Italy vs. Mexico for the right to play in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.
