EuroBasket: EuroLeague, EuroCup players come to the fore

Group C: Croatia holds on, Greece outpaces Great Britain, Ukraine maintains 100% record

Croatia recorded its second win in a row on Monday afternoon after downing Estonia 73-70 in Milan. New Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana signing Karlo Matkovic led the scoring efforts for Croatia, finishing with 17 points. The team was also helped by a double-double from Dario Saric, while ALBA Berlin's Jaleen Smith put up 13 points, which included some crucial free throws in the dying embers of the game. The defeat will be a tough pill to swallow for Estonia, which for the second game in succession failed to make a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game to overtime. Instead, the heave from Lietkabelis Panevezys's Kristian Kullamae was off target, so the team has now fallen to a 0-3 record. Maik Kotsar, a recent addition at Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, recorded 17 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in the losing effort.

Greece made it three wins from three on Monday evening, as it beat Great Britain 93-77 in Milan. Despite Great Britain's best efforts, it was unable to deal with the shooting of Greece and Olympiacos Piraeus guard Kostas Sloukas, as well as the dominance of Greece and Panathinaikos Athens center Georgios Papagiannis in the paint. Sloukas was on fire for Greece, going for 21 points on five-of-six from three and eight-of-10 overall, while he also dished out 5 assists. Papagiannis ended up with 17 points as he regularly exploited mismatches on the interior. Great Britain and London Lions guard Luke Nelson did all he could to help his team, going for 15 points in the first half to cut the deficit to three points at halftime, but Greece went to another level after the break en route to a convincing victory. Greece can now rest easy knowing that it is in the Round of 16.

Ukraine advanced to the Round of 16 on Monday night after beating Italy 84-73 in Milan to make it three wins from three games. The two teams went into the final quarter tied at 57-57, but Ukraine put its foot on the gas and outscored Italy 27-16 to come away with the victory. Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk was Ukraine's leading scorer with 25 points, while Prometey duo Issuf Sanon and Ivan Tkachenko ended with 17 points apiece. Italy tried its best, with Anadolu Efes Istanbul's Achille Polonara recording 17 points and 7 rebounds, yet it is Ukraine who shone brightest in the final part of the game. There was not much expectation for Ukraine coming into the tournament, but their fairy-tale journey continues.

Group D: Gran Canaria partnership aids Poland, Vesely leads Czechs to first win, Serbia too dominant for Finland

Poland ended Israel's 100% record in the EuroBasket 2022 after winning 85-76 in Prague on Monday afternoon. The victory for Poland was largely down to the performances of two Gran Canaria players, AJ Slaughter and 2021 EuroCup Rising Star Aleksander Balcerowski. It was Slaughter who gave Poland the impetus to record its second win from three games as he put the team on his back with 24 points, 5 assists and 0 turnovers. Then, Balcerowski stepped up in the fourth quarter and finished with 17 points, including an incredible one-legged three-pointer in the fourth quarter. Two Israeli players that feature in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, ALBA Berlin forward Yovel Zoosman and Partizan NIS Belgrade guard Yam Madar, put up 18 and 17 points, respectively, off the bench. However, it was not enough for Israel to win its third group game in a row.

The Czech Republic gave its fans something to cheer for on Monday evening, beating the Netherlands 88-80 in Prague. Czech star and new FC Barcelona signing Jan Vesely led the way with 24 points on nine-of-10 shooting, and he was aided by Martin Peterka's 20 points. The Czech Republic remained without recent Barca arrival Tomas Satoransky due to injury, however. It appeared as though it was going to be a convincing win for the Czech Republic at halftime as it led 50-27, but the Netherlands fought back to win the third and fourth quarters. While the Czech Republic managed to hold on to secure its first victory in the EuroBasket 2022, losing the second half 38-53 will cause head coach Ronen Ginzburg some concern. Nevertheless, the team is off the mark in terms of wins and will hope to finish the group stage in style.

Serbia maintained its perfect record at the EuroBasket 2022 on Monday night by beating Finland 100-70 in Prague. The second half was a close affair between the two teams, with just two points separating them, but it was in the first half where the game was lost for Finland. Heading into the break, Serbia was up 62-34. Serbia ended up having six players get into double figures, of which five play in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague: Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade's Nemanja Nedovic (14 points), Anadolu Efes Istanbul's Vasilije Micic (14), FC Barcelona's Nikola Kalinic (13), FC Bayern Munich's Vladimir Lucic (12) and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul's Marko Guduric. Nikola Jokic also had 13 points, 14 rebounds and 7 assists. With this win, Serbia has booked its place in the Round of 16.