ANKARA (2010 FIBA World Championship) – Greece used a three-point shooting barrage to take a comfortable lead early on but were made to fight hard in the second half to edge out China 89-81.

Ioannis Bourousis hit two attempts from beyond the arc for a 14-5 advantage and the Greeks had their first double-digit lead, 23-12, on Nikos Zisis’ three-point play with three minutes left in the first quarter.

Good ball movement led to timely baskets for Jonas Kazlauskas’s side as they cut short China’s runs in the second period.

Bob Donewald Jr’s charges got within seven several times before heading into the break down 47-37.

Zisis and Dimitris Diamantidis combined for three three-pointers early in the second half as Greece built a 56-43 cushion.

China then used a 12-2 run – capped off by a thunderous dunk by Sun Yue – to get within 58-55.

The Greeks recovered to go up 65-56 before Wang Zhizhi scored six straight points that cut the deficit to 65-62 heading into the final quarter.

Yi Jianlian gave China their first lead, 66-65, with eight minutes left to play but their defense then let them down as they failed to rotate and Greece pulled away 81-73.

Zhizhi and Yue hit three-pointers that got China within 81-79 but they cooled off and the Greeks held on.

Afterwards Kostas Tsartsaris, who scored six points and six rebounds in the win, visited with FIBATV.Com.

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Quotes

Jonas Kazlauskas (Greece head coach): China played well and we were not so good. After bad preparation games and suspension of our two important players, we could not play good. If we had Antonios Fotsis and Sofoklis Schortsanitis, we could have better shooting percentage and we could find more baskets at zone. We did simple mistakes and we did not help each other on defense and on offense we hesitated to shoot. In the end I am happy to win and waiting for the second match.”

Nicos Zisis (Greece guard): “It is good to win for us. Every game is important and I am glad to start with a victory to FIBA World Championship but actually we let China score easily. This was our mistakes and we knew that we could play better and we should play better. We have to play 40 minutes like we played at the end of the match.”

Bob Donewald Jr (China head coach): “We fought hard. We kept the battle going. We tried to make Diamantidis shoot from the perimeter as much as possible. They missed some rebounds and we missed some points. I think we played with good purpose but we weren’t able to win. We are a young team. Young teams keep their head up, bounce back and make mistakes. As you saw we had some good moments and some bad moments at the game. Yi had a great performance. He gave us all we asked from him.”

Sun Yue (China guard): “First of all I feel a little bad about this game because we lost even though it was a very close game. We now need to forget about this game and get ready for the others. We have an important game tomorrow too so we will get ready for tomorrow.”

ANKARA (2010 FIBA World Championship) – Russia overcame the absence of Viktor Khryapa to see off Puerto Rico 75-66 in the second game of Group C action at Ankara Arena.
 
David Blatt’s men led 14-8 at the end of a gritty and low-scoring first quarter. The game picked up in the second period with Puerto Rico getting within three, 18-15, on Angel Vassallo’s long bomb.
 
But Manolo Cintron’s team could not stop Russia’s pick and roll with Timofey Mozgov the beneficiary, getting wide open dunks.
 
Vassello tied the game at 27 before Sergey Bykov and Voronov put Russia up 32-27. JJ Barea then hit two three-pointers as Puerto Rico tied it at 34.
 
Anton Ponkrashov made two foul shots for a 36-34 halftime lead.
 
Puerto Rico scored the first eight points of the second half to pull away 42-36. The Russians fought back and tied the game at 48 on Mozgov’s lay-up.
 
Peter John Ramos scored in the final seconds of the period to put Puerto Rico up 55-54 heading into the final frame.
 
Sasha Kaun, who visited with FIBATV.Com after the win, tied the game at 59 early in the fourth quarter before Barea weaved his way to the basket for a tough lay-up that gave Puerto Rico their last lead, 61-59.
 
Cintron’s charges fouled often the rest of the way and Kaun and Ponkrashov made good on most of their attempts to seal the deal.
 

Quotes
 
David Blatt (Russia head coach): “This was a very good game in a great environment. The first game in a group is always a high-pressure one, physically and psychologically. Both teams played well. Puerto Rico were very active. We found ways to win in the trenches. We have to keep fighting this way. Sergey Monya and Anton Ponkrashov had good performances. We did well without our best player (Viktor Khryapa).”
 
Anton Ponkrashov (Russia guard): “Coach told us there is nothing complicated in winning. You have to rebound the ball, take care of the ball and move it around. We did those things. You can see it in the stat sheet. We won because we played as a real team, united. If we play together, we can win.”
 
Manolo Cintron (Puerto Rico head coach): “We played well defensively but our offense was not good. We fell behind by 12 late on and we couldn’t come back. Russia shot well.”
 
Peter John Ramos (Puerto Rico centre): “We were not good offensively and that’s a problem for a team known for its offence.”

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