By Rigas Dardalis/ dardalis@eurohoops.net
The trend of naturalized American guard continues to pay off in Eurobasket. Pooh Jeter had 20 points and 4 assists in the 82-75 win of Ukraine (2-2) over Serbia (3-1), that left both teams smiling. After all, Serbia is still on top of the group and has the tie breaker advantage over Lithuania (3-1), while Ukraine did what it had to do.
To be exact, Jeter was the one who pushed for the win, of course with the help of a collective defensive effort and Maxym Korniyenko’s presence in the paint (21 p., 8 r.). A 14-2 run in the start of the second half proved enough for Ukraine despite the effort of Nemanja Bjelica (22 p., 10 r., 4 as.).
“Playing against Serbia is very special because of what basketball means to them and we knew that to have any chance we had to play our best game not on one end, but both ends of the floor,” said Ukraine coach Mike Fratello.