Siena guard Nikos Zisis scored 19 points to lead Greece to a 69-60 triumph over Slovenia on Thursday at the start of the second group stage of the Eurobasket in Lithuania.
This team seems to be coming of age with this performance, while the victory is taking it to within one win from advancing to the quarterfinals, with two matches left to play.
Just like in the game with Croatia, Greece stepped up their game in the second period, turning a five-point lead at the end of the first quarter (18-13) to a 15-point advantage three minutes from half time (35-20), with the first half ending 37-25.
Mike Bramos and Costas Kaimakoglou showed some improved confidence in their shooting, compared with the first group stage, while Nick Calathes took on a leading role distributing play and scoring at the same time.
Yet the third period showed Greece have got problems against tight defences that put pressure on the Greek guards, with the Slovenians entering the last period with a two-point lead (46-44) through nine unanswered points. This 21-7 score in the third period almost proved too costly for the Greeks.
However, in the fourth period the players of coach Ilias Zouros raised their game again with Nikos Zisis with Costas Papanikolaou in attack and Kosta Koufos with Dimitris Mavroidis in defence. Pressure increased on the Slovenians and the crucial shots went on for the Greeks right when it really mattered.
Experienced Antonis Fotsis and Zisis sealed victory with two crucial three-pointers in the final minute to take the score to 67-60.
Yiannis Bourousis was Greece's second scorer with eight points. Koufos collected eight rebounds.
With this win Greece have five points from three games. Their next game is on Saturday against pool leader Russia, while on Monday they face Georgia.
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