By Rigas Dardalis/ dardalis@eurohoops.net
Slovenia, the host nation of Eurobasket 2013, not only qualified for the quarterfinals but also pushed one of the medal contenders out of the best eight teams of the tournament by beating Greece 73-65. It was a game that started with everything going the winners’ way as Goran Dragic finished the night with 28 points and his team led by 24 points (56-32) in the 24th minute.
However Greece mounted a come back, cut the lead to six points (68-62) with two minutes left, but that was the best they could do. Vassilis Spanoulis with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists gave more than a fight, Kostas Papanikolaou was injured during the game and he will miss the upcoming contest against Croatia, which is the last hope for Greece. In order to qualify the team of coach Trinkieri had to beat Croatia and will get the last ticket to the best eight teams of the tournament, if Italy prevails over Spain and also Slovenia beats Finland. At this point Slovenia (3-1) and Croatia (3-1) are leading the standing in Group F, Spain and Italy are tied with one win less (2-2), while Greece (1-3) and Finland (1-3) are in the last two places.
As Andrea Trinchieri: “We have to win the next game against Croatia and they wait for a miracle”.