The Olympiacos shooter knocked down 6 triples for the winners
Tyler Dorsey's hot hand helped Greece KO Spain
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Greece finished atop Group C with a 4-1 record and will face Israel in the EuroBasket Round of 16 on Sunday after holding off defending champion Spain 86-90 in hotly-contested game in Limassol, Cyprus, on Thursday evening. The duo of NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and Olympiacos Piraeus sharpshooter Tyler Dorsey paved the way for Greece.
The result meant that Georgia qualified from Group C, while Spain fell to 2-3 and was eliminated.
Antetokounmpo posted a monster line of 25 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists, while Dorsey finished with 22 points on 6-of-9 three-point shooting, 5 boards and 4 assists. Panathinaikos Athens playmaker Kostas Sloukas added 12 points and 6 dimes for Greece. Jaime Pradilla of Valencia Basket was Spain’s top scorer with 14 points.
After 7 and a half minutes of basketball, the score was Spain 14, Tyler Dorsey 14 (and Greece 30). Dorsey was inflicting damage by draining shot after shot – including one directly from an assist from Antetokounmpo. The sniper from the corner threw off the Spanish defense and helped create space for Antetokounmpo to operate with more freedom in the paint.
Despite Greece’s big early lead, Spain rallied late and led in the fourth quarter. Dorsey made key contributions late with a tip-in to tie go ahead 75-77 and then a rebound that triggered a transition bucket from Panathinaikos’s Panos Kalaitzakis. He also drew a foul while boxing out Pradilla to end another Spanish possession.
The final minutes would be tense, but after Sloukas put Greece up 84-88 with a minute remaining, Spain missed 7 free throws in the final 15 seconds to see its chances to advance disappear.