Veteran forward Ioannis Papapetrou put all his talent on display on Wednesday in Manila, Philippines as he pushed Greece to a come-from-behind 83-74 win in a do-or-die game against New Zealand. The win qualified Greece for the next stage, but it is hard to imagine it would have happened without the massive effort of Papapetrou, who returned to Panathinaikos Athens this summer after a year with Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade.
Greece trailed by as many as 28-43 in penultimate minute of the second quarter, and was down 40-48 when Papapetrou re-entered the game with 6:30 left in the third quarter. Papapetrou scored 7 points before the end of the quarter, including a triple that cut the deficit to 50-51. Among his contributions in the fourth quarter, Papapetrou nailed a three-pointer to open a 68-61 lead, and stole the ball with 23 seconds left to seal the deal.
Papapetrou finished the game with 27 points, making 4-of-8 twos and 4-of-7 threes, while pulling down 6 rebounds, including 3 on the offensive end during 29:29 on the floor off the bench. Another player who stepped up for Greece off the bench was Olympiacos's Giannoulis Larentzakis, who netted 15 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter.