By Semih Tuna/ Stuna@eurohoops.net
Leading for all but two minutes, Montenegro held on for the 81-73 victory against Georgia in the Tbilisi Arena Wednesday.
Igor Drobnjak knocked in an off-balance buzzer-beater to conclude the third period and keep the momentum going for the team coached by Bosko Radovic. The 22-year-old forward put in nine more points in the fourth quarter wrapping up his efforts with a game-high 22 points.
Naturalized Kendrick Perry went for 17 points, nine assists, and four rebounds. Montenegro overcame Bojan Dubljevic fouling out with 6:52 remaining in the last quarter. The Valencia captain had ten points. Marko Simonovic of the Chicago Bulls fouled out in crunch time with seven points, four rebounds, two assists, and one steal in 21 minutes.
Dealing with the pressure of the winning side going through and the losing side being knocked out of the 2022 EuroBasket, the Black Mountain bested the hosts of Group A and ended up as the third seed pushing Belgium to the fourth seed. Montenegro is set up to collide with Germany and Belgium with Slovenia in Berlin over the weekend. In contrast, Georgia fell to 1-4 and was eliminated.
“This group was the most difficult to get wins. Last game versus the home team in a full arena. But what is important is the victory,” the Montenegro head coach congratulated his players, “Big victory for us with the tickets to Berlin.”
For the team coached by Ilias Zouros, Thad McFadden registered a team-high 16 points at the conclusion of the action in Tbilisi. Milwaukee Bucks player Sandro Mamukelashvili posted a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Goga Bitadze of the Indiana Pacers finished with five points, nine rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. Giorgi Shermadini logged an efficiency rating of 22 behind 14 points, nine rebounds, three blocks, two steals, and two assists.
“We apologize for not qualifying to Berlin. This was our goal,” mentioned Zouros, “Many things went wrong this summer. We missed our captain, organizer of our offense, and experienced player Tornike Shengelia, one week before the EuroBasket. It is very difficult to replace players, especially in the national team.”
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL