FIBA BASKETBALL WORLD CUP 2023 EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS. THE TEAM OF BELARUS TOOK THE FIRST PLACE IN GROUP B

On November 28, the National team of Belarus played with the team of Greece in Thessaloniki. In a tense battle, the victory went to the Host 67:77.

Starting lineup of the National team of Belarus: Maksim Salash, Yauheni Beliankou, Artsiom Parakhouski, Kiryl Sitnik, Uladzislau Blizniuk.

The National team of Greece, which had been defeated in this qualifying cycle by the team of Great Britain, was eager to win. The National team of Belarus, on the other hand, which beat the National team of Turkey, undoubtedly wanted to win and make one step closer to the next qualifying round for the World Cup.

Most likely, it was the outrageous mood and excitement of both teams that prevented the players from finding their game in the first half of the opening quarter. At first, the actions of both teams looked a little chaotic - both teams could not score points. And yet the first points in the match were recorded by the Host team: Parakhouski was issued a foul on Kostas Gontikas, who shot two free throws. However, Artsiom immediately rehabilitated himself with a dunk. The National team of Belarus took the lead four and a half minutes before the end of the quarter 11: 9. As a result, the National team of Belarus managed to win the first quarter with a score of 18:16.

At the end of the 15th minute of the match, Greece took the lead - 30:28. Rostislav Vergun's charges were especially good at taking rebounds in attack (11 from Belarusians, 4 from Greeks). Interestingly, the percentage of accurate shots from a distance was higher for the National team of Belarus (almost 42%) than from an average distance (29%).

After 4 minutes of the third quarter the National team of Belarus lagged behind the opponent by only 1 point - 41:42. The teams left for the final break with the score 58:48 not in Belarus' favor.

In the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, thanks to the efforts of Blizniuk, Salash and Beliankou, the National team of Belarus managed to make a comeback 60:62. In the remaining 7 minutes of the match, Rostislav Vergun's wards scored only 7 points, while allowing the opposing team to score 15 points, which naturally affected the final result of the match.

Greece - Belarus - 77:67

STATISTICS 

The best players of the match in the National team of Belarus: Artsiom Parakhouski (15 points, 15 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 block shots), Maksim Salash (17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block shot), Uladzislau Blizniuk (17 points, 3 assists, 1 rebound).

Rostislav Vergun, head coach of the men's National team of Belarus: “I would like to thank the team for the fact that in such a difficult atmosphere in the away game we stayed together and fought to the end. In my opinion, there can be no complaints or questions to the guys for today's game. In an equal fight, the opposing team received a colossal advantage, because it was allowed to play too aggressively. In addition, we made a number of losses that we could have avoided, and thanks to which the opponent scored a lot of easy points. In addition, there was a huge and, as it seems to me, not entirely logical, difference in free throws that we and the Greeks performed today. Nevertheless, I believe that we did not play so non-aggressively as to get 28 fewer attempts from the penalty line than the Host team. We will look forward to the next "window". I am grateful to the guys for their work and attitude. I really hope that we spent this time with benefit, got involved in the struggle, and gave ourselves a chance to believe that we can be worthy contenders at this level. I wish the guys the best in their clubs. See you in February. I very much hope that in Minsk we will have the same support from the stands as the Greeks had today here, in Thessaloniki."