By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Georgia was nervous, trailed for most of the game, but managed to get a crucial lead in the last quarter. It was not enough. The Netherlands, in their first match in the Eurobasket after 26 years, first completed the upset and got the 73-72 win.
”Most of the game I liked how we were in control. The game went how we wanted. Low-scoring games is our goal. We play defense and keep the score low,” said the head coach of the Netherlands, Toon Van Helfteren after his team’s triumph.
Robin Smeulders with 18 seconds left made the basket that decided the outcome and both Manuchar Markoishvili at the buzzer and Jacob Pullen at little bit earlier lost the chance to win the game for Georgia.
Igor Kokoskov, head coach of Georgia, was disappointed afterwards: “We only played 10 minutes of good basketball, and that is not enough. We had a game and a chance to win, it slipped away. We are going to keep our heads up. It’s a long week.”
Charlon Kloof with 22 points was the top scorer of the winners and Worthy De Jong added 16 points. Still defence was the difference, as the winners managed to keep in check Zaza Pachulia for most of the game, despite him scoring 16 points, along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists.