By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Greece legend Vassilis Spanoulis began his journey as head coach of the national team with a win.
The trio of Dinos Mitoglou, Thomas Walkup and Kostas Papanikolaou combined for 54 out of their team’s 72 points as their team beat the Czech Republic 72 – 64 and began the 2025 EuroBasket Qualifiers on a positive note.
Mitoglou scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds while Walkup contributed 16 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and five steals for only one turnover. Papanikolaou added 16 points and eight rebounds of his own.
Walkup also delivered five straight points that capped a key 8-2 run for Greece, making it 61 – 52 with five minutes to play. He, Mitoglou and Papanikolaou then scored consecutive points as Greece went up 70 – 58 with 1:44 to play.
Ondrej Balvin (13 points, 10 rebounds), Martin Peterka (12 points) and Tomas Kyzlink (10 points) scored in double figures for the Czech team that was without star center Jan Vesely. Tomas Satoransky added nine points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Photo: FIBA