Croatia beats Greece in 2 OT’s, Tops Group

It took two overtimes, but Croatia came out victorious over a determined Greek side 92-88 on Monday to win their 7th in a row and finish atop their group. The win knocks Greece out of the tournament and sets Croatia up to play Ukraine on Thursday in the quarterfinals. Ukraine are 5-3 thus far in the competition, including an impressive win over Serbia. 

 Highlights

Neither team was able to build up a lead throughout the highly competitive game, as the scores were tied 19 times and leads changed 18 times. Croatia led by three with 20 seconds to go in regulation after Ante Tomić hit one of two free throws, but Nikos Zisis hit a three to tie it and send it into overtime. Croatia found themselves trailing by three in the final minute of the overtime before Bojan Bogdanović hit a big time three pointer as the game extended to a second extra period. Working off the clutch three, Bojan went on a run at the start of the second, scoring six points in the first two minutes and putting the game out of reach.

 Dontaye Draper Interview

Bojan Bogdanović led the team with 22 points, including some clutch shots late in the game. Ante Tomić had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Roko Ukić and Dontaye Draper added 14 and 13 point performances respectively. Should Croatia defeat Ukraine, they would face the winner of Italy and Lithuania.