Greece’s opponent in the final of the Pre-Olympics, Croatia – “Croatia” found it… dark from the Dominicans!

Her obstacle Croatia is invited to overcome tomorrow night (07/07, 21:00) h Our national team to be found for the first time after 16 years at the Olympic Games!

“Croatian” found them… dark against the fighting team of the Dominican Republic, which he bent in the finale with a score of 80-77, in fact, at the time when the Caribbean country had a huge opportunity in stoppage time to send the match into extra time with a three-pointer by Duarte.

Joseph Cesar’s ensemble presented quite a bit average face, mainly in his defense, appearing to exist fatigue and lack of clarity of mind in the group.



The first scorer for the winners was Ivica Zubac with 25 points (10/10d.) and 9 rebounds, with Jalyn Smith to add 14, eight of which came in the crucial fourth period. Saric and Hezonia they were off target, staying at 14 and 12 points respectively.

For the Dominican Republic, the guard of the Sacramento Kings stood out, Chris Duarte, finishing the match with 17 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and as many steals.

The match:

With Chris Duarte starting the match impressively, the Dominican Republic came into the game stronger, playing focused on both ends of the floor. With the Sacramento Kings guard scoring 7 points and an assist to Vargas, the Caribbean team took the lead with 12-6 in the 5th minute. After its sluggish start, the Croatian raised her performance and “hitting” the opponent’s racket managed not only to collect the difference, but also to close the quarter ahead by one point for 16-15with Zubac in this period counting 7 points.

Making things happen on both ends of the floor @C_Duarte5 ??#FIBAOQT x @RDBSeleccion ????

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— FIBA ​​(@FIBA) July 6, 2024

Kruslin’s three-pointer started the second period, with “Hrvatska” leading with +4. However, the Dominicans persisted to make it difficult to the typical visitors, staying close to the score and not allowing their opponent to escape, in a bad truth is quality first half. By personal actions of Feliz and Duartethe set of Nesto Garcia was preceded bye 27-25 at 16′, before Croatia put energy into their defense and with him Zoobats to dominate offensively, close the quarter with individual scores of 12-5 for the 32-37 of the half.

The scene was similar at the beginning third period, with Croatia having a slight advantage, but not being able to escape the score. And this because despite the seven points of the… disappeared Hezonia in the first half, but also Zubac’s easy baskets, Josip Cesar’s team may have reached at +10 (40-50), at 25′, however, the Dominican Republic reacted immediately. With one quick 7-0 run by Duarte, Montero and Vargas, the Dominicans were reduced in 3 (47-50) a minute later. In fact, by playing excellent defense and blocking the offensive assets of the Croatians, they managed to bring the match to the absolute balance (53-53) at the end of the quarter!

Somehow, the fourth and final period it turned into a thriller, with both teams putting up big battles on both sides of the floor. The Dominican Republic started with two 3-pointers from Liz and Nunes in the first minute, only for Montero to come a little later and with one shot to make 60-55 at 32′!Croatia responded immediately and equalized with baskets by Saric and Zubac at 62-62 at 34′, with the two countries in the following minutes exchanging successive “blows”! Characteristically, until 37′, the lead changed hands a total of 8 times, before Smith – who was pivotal in the 4th period – made a difficult layup 74-71 for Croatia. In fact, with Saric’s shots and Drezniak’s nailing, the difference went at +7 (71-78) at 35 seconds. However, Pena’s 3-pointer and Smith’s miss and foul on Montero on a three-point shot cut the lead to a point mwithin 14” (71-78), before Hezonia from the shooting line shaped up the final score (77-80). In the final, Duarte missed a difficult three-pointer to send the match into overtime.

The quarters: 15-16, 32-37, 53-53, 77-80.

See here the statistics of the match.