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Greece Win Acropolis Tournament

30 August 2015
EUROBASKET 2015

8. Nick Calathes (Greece)
Nick Calathes contributed nine points in Greece's win over Lithuania

Greece defeated Lithuania 67-62 to lift the EuroBank Acropolis trophy and Turkey edged out Netherlands 95-94 in double-overtime to claim second place in the last warm-up tournament for these four EuroBasket-bound teams.

The Sunday success was the third consecutive win for the tournament hosts as they had prevailed over Netherlands on Friday and out-defended Turkey on Saturday.

Against Lithuania, the Greeks came out strong and required less than four minutes of play to claim a 12-3 lead, although Lithuania used a 9-1 run to reduce to just one point, 16-15, at the end of the opening quarter.

Antanas Kavaliauskas with a put-back 1:20 from half-time tied the scores at 29-all followed up with a lay-up on the very next possession to give Lithuania their first lead, 31-29.

Nick Calathes however scored the last basket in the first half to send the two teams into the locker rooms level at 31.

A Jonas Valanciunas lay-up handed Lithuania a four-point cushion, 41-37 with four minutes remaining in the third frame, but Giannis Antetokounmpo converted a three-point play to cap-off a 9-0 Greek run and the hosts jumped ahead 46-41 shortly before the third buzzer.

Lithuania cut the deficit to three points shortly after the start of the final frame but Greece went on a 10-2 burst midway through the period which stretched their lead to 63-52 with three minutes remaining and they held on until the final buzzer.

Giorgos Printezis led Greece with 14 points, Antetokounmpo contributed 10 points and six rebounds while Calathes finished with nine points.

For Lithuania, who out-rebounded their hosts 45 to 28 but committed 20 turnovers (Greece only seven), Jonas Maciulis had 15 points and six rebounds while Valanciunas finished with a double-double of 13 points and 11 boards.

"We made up for our disadvantage on the boards by forcing them to make mistakes," said Greece head coach Fotis Katsikaris.

"The game was tough, it was a like an official knock-out game.

"We still have weaknesses but we will be ready by next week for the EuroBasket.

"One aspect of that is the systems and plays we will use, also in relation to the opponent.

"The other aspect is that every player feels happy with their role."

Oguz Savas, Turkey, 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup
Oguz Savas collected 18 points and eight rebounds for Turkey

In the early Sunday game, Turkey led the Netherlands 31-21 after 10 minutes and widened the gap to 53-35 by the half-time break.

Turkey's second victory in three games in the Athens tournament appeared to be a foregone conclusion but the Dutch fought their way back and out-scored the Turkish side 20-7 in the fourth frame to tie the scores at 74-all and force overtime.

Not content with that, Netherlands edged ahead 86-83 in the final seconds of the first extra period but Hüseyin Köksal drew a foul on a three-point attempt and sunk all three free throws to make it 86-all and send the game into second overtime.

Kenan Sipahi put Turkey ahead 95-94 with a lay-up 17 seconds from the final buzzer and Worthy De Jong's potential game-winner for Netherlands on the last possession did not drop in.

Turkey, who rested Ersan Ilyasova and Bobby Dixon, were led by Baris Hersek's 21 points and six rebounds while Oguz Savas finished with 18 points and eight boards and Köksal with Birkan Batuk chipped in with 13 points apiece.

Charlon Kloof collected a game-high 25 points, Worthy De Jong added 22 points and eight rebounds while Kees Akerboom and Arvin Slagter had 12 points each in defeat.

At EuroBasket 2015, Greece and Netherlands play in Group C in Zagreb, Turkey in Group B in Berlin while Lithuania will compete in Group D, in nearby Riga.

EuroBasket 2015 tips off on Saturday, 5 September.

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