In the second round of the Eurobasket group stage, the Russian men’s team again achieved a victory with a difference of “+3”. This time – over the silver medalists of the 2014 World championship and the 2016 Olympic Games, the Serbian team – 75:72.
In the first attack, the Serbs realized a three-pointer attack. However, this did not embarrass the Russians. 10:3 and less than three minutes after the start of the controversial, the head coach of Serbs Sasha Djordjevic, who by that time had already managed to remove his best sniper Bogdan Bogdanovich from the court, asked for a time-out.
At the end of the 4th minute the two highest players of each of the competitors entered the game – Timofey Mozgov (216 cm) and Boban Marjanovich (221 cm). Bogdanovich, realizing, however, only one penalty, completed a breakthrough of Serbs – 0:12 and 10:15 for 2.51 before the first break.
The Russian team did not gain points almost 4 and a half minutes. Mikhail Kulagin brought the team out of the stupor by a distant hit. True, the Serbs did not immediately stop the rush. Milan Machvan successfully entered the game: after his 4 points in the last minute of the period, the backlog of Russian team reached the maximum “-6” – 15:21.
Again, the Russians made a breakthrough 10:0. However, the national team of Serbia equalized the score pretty quickly. And even went ahead – 28:32 for 3.29 to the end of the first half. Bazarevich’s minute break came at an opportune moment. 36:32. In the second quarter the national team of Serbia could not catch up with the opponent – 40:38.
Equality was restored in the first attack of the third period. Leader of the Serbs Bogdanovich did it after “slept through” the first 20 minutes (1 point after 30 against Latvia!). For the third 10 minutes, the Serbian guard scored 13 points, but all the other players of the opponent – none! Becoming “hostages” of Bogdanovich, the Serbs hadn’t come forward. The Russians also “cut through” three-point (5 exact in this quarter!). Plus in the middle of the 10-minute Mozgov scored first points.
For 3.25 before the last break Bogdanovich three-points shot equalized the score – 49:49. But 10 minutes before the end of the game the Russians dropped by 7 points – 58:51.
Marjanovic withdrew the Serbs from the “oblivion”, in the first minute of the fourth period he scored 4 points. And the Russian team in the debut of this quarter “stalled” attack. The opponent immediately took advantage of this, and on the 33rd minute from the penalty line Marjanovic for the first time in the second half brought his team forward – 59:60. It is curious that within three starting minutes of the period both teams have exhausted the limit of fouls.
As it turned out, this leadership of the national team of Serbia has remained the last. And Mozgov unfolded the game 180 degrees. After two ideal assists of Shved the center of “Brooklyn” hammered the ball into the ring from above. And then scored with a foul – 66:60 in the middle of the quarter.
Of course, it was still very far from the junction. For 20 seconds, the opponents scored 4 unanswered points, and then Ognen Kuzmich scored with a foul – 72:68 and more than two and a half minutes before the final siren. And again Mozgov scored in time, and on the penultimate minute Shved punished his opponents with a sharp penalty shot for a technical foul – 75:68.
Russian team didn’t score more in the game. Bogdanovich tried to return the intrigue with a precise three-pointer. For 32 seconds Khvostov violated the rules, but Milosavljevic repeated the “passed material” – only one penalty shot of two (75:72).
Timofey Mozgov scored 11 points and made 8 rebounds in the match.
