By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Russia defeated Venezuela, 69-60, in a 2019 FIBA World Cup Group I match at Foshan on Sunday without any quarterfinals implications.
Andrey Vorontsevich provided the necessary answers with 17 points including 3/3 beyond the arc. Nikita Kurbanov added 12 points and 21-year-old Grigory Motovilov also posted 12 points. Sergey Bazarevich used all of his 12 players and saw his reserves create a 39-24 scoring advantage over the Venezuela’s bench players.
“We really wanted to finish up with a positive result” mentioned the Russian national team’s head coach in the post-game press conference. “However, we are disappointed we could not make it further in the tournament.”
The Russians jumped to an early double-digit lead, but struggled to maintain their distance up to the final minutes of the affair. They only made 7/20 threes, but held their opponents further down to 4/20.
Three triples came from Jhornan Zamora who finished the contest with 13 points. Michael Carrera put up a team-high 19 points, also grabbed 10 boards, but no other player of the losing side scored in double-digits.
“We wanted to play hard. We made adjustments after our slow start” noted Jose Vargas following his 2 points in 10 minutes. “I believe there was a big difference in awarded free throws, but we are pleased with our total performance in the tournament.”
Both national teams were already out of contention, but the Russians finished the tournament on a winning note gaining a 3-2 tally. Fernando Duro’s national team dropped to 2-3 losing against a European side in the World Cup for the eight time in a row.
“We made a big effort to beat a European team. Maybe if we had one more month here, we would have achieved that goal” said the 58-year-old Argentinian head coach of Venezuela.
On a positive note, both Russia and Venezuela had already punched an Olympic qualifiers ticket prior to their last World Cup tilt.
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL