By Aris Barkas/ [email protected]
LILLE, France – In their do-or-die game against Australia, Greece got the job done but couldn’t celebrate yet about making it to the Quarter-Finals of the Olympic Games.
Despite winning 77-71, Greece’s faith is still unclear but they locked the 3rd position in Group A. Australia, on the other side, will qualify if Spain loses to Canada in the upcoming match; if Sergio Scariolo’s team wins, the Boomers will be out after getting the bronze in Tokyo.
At this point, if Serbia beats South Sudan by three points or more, both Greece and Brazil will qualify for the Quarter-Finals of the Olympics after respectively beating Australia and Japan in today’s first games.
16 years after their last victory in the Olympic Games, the Greek national team found success once again on the Olympic stage thanks to 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists from Giannis Antetokounmpo. Thomas Walkup added 18 points, while Dinos Mitoglou and Vasilis Toliopoulos shared 13 points.
On the Australian side, Jock Landale was the highest scorer with 17 points and 8 rebounds, followed by captain Patty Mills with 13 points. Josh Giddey finished with 9 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists in his team’s defeat.
A Greek first halfThe first quarter ended up with Greece leading by one (25-24) after a highly questionable foul call on Walkup which awarded Josh Giddey three free throws.
However, that was the spark that fired a 14-0, with Walkup scoring his third three-pointer of the game and Greece jumping to a 39-24 lead.
The Greek advantage went up to 17 points (50-33) with Giannis taking it all the way against three defenders and scoring on a trademark spin move, while the halftime score was 53-36 as Greece had already three scorers in double digits – Walkup, Giannis, Mitoglou – and Australia had none.
A dogfight in the second halfWith tension rising, Greece pushed the lead to 19 points (55-36) and Australia tried by tooth and claw to react.
Thanks to a partial 11-4 score with Jock Landale getting the ball, the Boomers trimmed the lead to 12 (59-47). The game turned sloppy and finally, a big three by Vassilis Charalampoulos was the Greek answer (62-47). Mat Dellavedova responded with his own three (62-50) and that was the end of the third period.
A dunk by Landale and a three by Daniels trimmed the lead to seven (62-55) to start the fourth and finally, there was a game.
After a three by Patty Mills, Australia made a four-point game (69-65) with five minutes left and Mills again put the Boomers in shooting distance (71-69) two minutes later.
Thomas Walkup came up clutch with a three-pointer and a steal down the line to keep Greece alive.
PHOTO CREDIT: FIBA Basketball
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