By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The final score was 76-72 and while Croatia never lost the lead, Montenegro almost stole the game at the final minute. Despite being down by 12 points at the start of the last period, Montenegro entered the last minute trailing by just one point (73-72) thanks to a lay up by Tyrese Rice.
The answer was a shot by Dario Saric (75-72) and with 18 seconds left, Nikola Ivanovic lost the potential game tying three. Saric with one of two made three shots decided the final score.
The star: Bojan Bogdanovic continues his streak and he is by far the most effective offensive weapon of Croatia. He proved it with 23 points and four out of seven threes.
Details: While Croatia was better in some key aspects of the game, Montenegro kept the pressure until the last minutes and Tyrese Rice had his best Eurobasket game with 22 points. Add to that the double double of Bojan Dubljevic (17 p., 11 r.) and 12 points by Nikola Vucevic and you get the whole pictue.
On the other hand, Croatia is a deeper and more experienced team compared to this version of Montenegro and that was evident in the way the closed the game. And of course, Dario Saric is emerging as the leader of the team.
(Photo credit: FIBA)