The National reacted! After the “shock” defeat by Great Britain, our representative team prevailed with difficulty 77-67 of Belarus for the 2nd match of the groups for the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers!
With the … aura of “Alexandreio”, the “blue and white” combined with the best possible result her return to Thessaloniki after 34 whole years, celebrating her first victory in the battle she will give to qualify for the finals.
Top for the whole of Sotiris Manolopoulos were Leonidas Kaselakis (14 points, 4 rebounds), Kaselakis (14 points, 4 rebounds) and Agravanis (14 points, 7 rebounds), while valuable solutions were provided by Lountzis (12 points) and Gondikas (13 points).
For the guests, the Blizzard (17 points), Salas (17 points, 8 rebounds) and Parakouski (15 points, 9 rebounds), who had with them 49 of the 67 points for their team.
The match
Our national team started with them Katsiveli, Gika, Gondika, Giannopoulos and Agravani in the starting five. The start of the match was sluggish, with our representative team trying to hit the “painted” by feeding Agravanis who was playing in position “5”, thus taking the lead 8-5 in 4 ‘. Belarus found a rhythm in the attack and with two consecutive three-pointers by Strabruski went ahead 9-11, while a little later Parakuski with four consecutive points did 11-15 at 3 ‘, taking advantage of the many offensive rebounds (8 in the first ten minutes). The entry of Leonidas Kaselakis gave “breath” to the attack of Greece, as a result of which he found some points by closing the quarter to 16-18.
The whole of Sotiris Manolopoulos was unable to find solutions until the middle of the second period, with Belarus taking full advantage of it and raising the difference up to +7 (19-26 in 13 ‘). Somewhere there, however, the “switch” turned for our National Team, which took off toughness in defense, while finding rhythm in the attack. One by one impressive series 14-0 within three minutes, Greece not only went ahead but also increased the difference at +10 for 38-28 starring Agravanis and Gondika. Our representative band finally went to the locker room in front with 38-30.
As in the first ten minutes, so too at the beginning of the second half, our National team took out nervousness at both ends of the parquet. The zone defense of the Belarusians made it very difficult for our team with the result that the guests gnawed the difference and with a series of 7-0 to go down to the minimum value of the difference (42-41 in 25 ‘). The baskets of Gika and Katsiveli gave a “breath” to our National Team (47-41), with the entry of Kalaitzakis and Mouratos a little later to offer runs and energy. Somehow, Ethniki ran a small series 6-0 in the last minute, closing the ten minutes at +10 and 58-48.
The last period developed into an informal shooting competition for the “blue and white”. With Belarus completing five teams early and playing hard on several occasions, our players scored 12 of their 19 points in the 10th minute from the “charity” line! Rostislav Vergun’s team reduced both points (62-60) in 33 ‘. Ethniki then responded with nine points from shots, increasing the difference at +9 (71-62) at 37 ‘, essentially locking the pink match sheet with the final 77-67.
The quarters: 16-18, 38-30, 58-48, 77-67.
Watch this film of the fight here …
Follow News Bulletin 247 on Google News to be the first to hear the latest news .
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
