By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Greece beat Poland 78 – 73 in the first preparation game for both national teams ahead of the Olympic Games Qualifiers.
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George Papagiannis had 12 points and four rebounds in 15:14 minutes for Greece before he was forced to exit the game in the third quarter after getting unintentionally hit on the face by Olek Balcerowski during a layup attempt. The Fenerbahce center began bleeding from the hit and had to get stitches on his eyebrow.
Vassilis Toliopoulos added 12 points and Vassilis Charalambopoulos scored 11 for a Greek team that dominated the second quarter 27 – 14 to close halftime up 46 – 41. The Polish side had a tremendous start, leading 3 – 11 in the initial minutes and 16 – 27 near the end of the first period before their opponents caught up.
With the score 71 – 68 and 4:48 remaining, Greece had a 7 – 0 run to build and retain a winning advantage. The Greek team was without Giannis Antetokounmpo, captain Kostas Papanikolaou and Kostas Antetokounmpo.
AJ Slaughter (17 points, five assists), Igor Milicic (13 points, 12 rebounds) and Balcerowski (11 points) scored in double figures for Poland. Jeremy Sochan sat out the game.