By Nikos Varlas / varlas@eurohoops.net
The Czechs get an astonishing 59-80 win over the seemingly powerless Croatians on Day 2 of the Round of 16.
Croatia came into this contest from a troublesome defeat by Georgia in the last game of the group stages, looking for their fifth quarterfinal victory in the last 6 EuroBasket competitions. The Czechs were also coming from a close loss to Lithuania but they were looking to reach the Top 8 for the very first time in their history. And they did just that, in spectacular fashion.
Right from the start the Czechs meant business. Taking the first quarter 13-20, they stomped their way right through the second too, closing out the half with a 17-point lead. When the two teams returned after the break, the Czechs slowed down a bit but not enough to let Perasovic’s players anywhere near them. As the fourth period opened, Ginzburg’s team still had a neat 20-point advantage that came in handy as the Croatians actually outscored them 16-15. But this wasn’t nearly enough to overthrow the dogged Czechs.
Power duo Jan Vesely and Tomas Satoransky both had excellent games once again, the former completing an amazing double-double with 20 points and 13 boards, and the latter being the team’s best facilitator with another double-double, dishing out 11 assists, plus scoring 10 points and grabbing 5 rebounds on the side. David Jelinek put in some nice work with 13 points and 3 rebounds, as did Blake Schilb with 12 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists. Petr Benda added another 11 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.
Bojan Bogdanovic (3 rebounds, 1 assist) was Croatia’s top scorer with 12 points, with the awesomely named Roko Leni Ukic (2 rebounds, 5 assists) and Mario Hezonja (9 rebounds, 1 assist) not far behind with 10 points apiece, the latter almost pulling off a double-double. Krunoslav Simon added another 9 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist.