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EuroBasket 2009: Day 6, September 13
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FYROM 86-75 Germany
 FYROM (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) kept alive its chances for the quarterfinals with a 86-75 victory over Germany in Bydgoszcz in Sunday's first game. The victory counted as FYROM's first win of the second round, giving it a 1-3 record going into the next, key game against Russia. To get in the victory column, FYROM followed its veteran leader, point guard Vrbica Stefanov, who finished with 25 points and 5 steals. Real Madrid forward Jeremiah Massey added 16 points for the winners while Pero Antic and Dime Tasovski put up 13 each. Germany got 14 points from young shooter Lucca Staiger and 13 from veteran Patrick Femerling. Stefanov scored half his team's points as FYROM led 18-14 after one quarter. Staiger shot Germany back into the lead at 24-25, but a back-and-forth half ended in a 36-36 tie on Massey's jumper. When he and Stefanov sparked a 9-2 run after halftime, FYROM was on its way. Jagla and Staiger got Germany within a point at 47-46, but FYROM pulled away again, highlighted by Antic's three-pointer on the third-quarter buzzer, good for a 62-50 lead. By the time Tasovski and Massey boosted the lead to 69-52 early in the fourth, FYROM was back in the tournament and looking forward to playing Russia on Tuesday.
Greece 65-68 Russia
 Reigning champion Russia took a major step toward the EuroBasket 2009 quarterfinals by ending Greece's unbeaten string with a defensive-minded 65-68 victory on Sunday. Russia has a 2-2 record in its qualifying group and can advance with a victory in its next game against FYROM. Kelly McCarty of Khimki Moscow Region paced Russia with 17 points and 9 rebounds. Sergei Monya followed with 16 points, including a killer trio of three-pointers to break the game open, while McCarty's teammate at Khimki, Timofey Mozgov, had 10 points. For Greece, which already qualified to the quarterfinals, big man Sofoklis Schortsanitis of Olympiacos had 13 points, while his teammate Ioannis Bourousis added 12 points and 7 rebounds. Panathinaikos teammates Vassilis Spanoulis and Antonis Fotsis scored 12 and 10, respectively. Russia used a 1-9 first-quarter run in which Mozgov and Khimki teammate Vitaly Fridzon scored all the points to lead 3-11 on the way to a 12-21 advantage at the end of 10 minutes. Russia kept its scoring on pace to continue holding the lead at 32-39 at halftime. Greece came out of the break with great defense for a six-minute, 8-0 run to its first lead, 40-39. Dueling three-pointers by Spanoulis and McCarty ended the third quarter 47-48 in favor of Russia. After Schortsanitis started the final quarter with a free throw to make it 48-48, Monya exploded with 3 three-pointers in a row to vault Russia in front 48-57 with under 7 minutes left. Greece pulled within 2 points twice after that, last on a triple by Georgios Printezis at 65-67 with 21 seconds left, but his next long-distance try, to win the game on the buzzer, missed and gave Russia a clear look at advancing to the quarterfinals.
Croatia 79-87 France
France remained perfect at EuroBasket 2009 by outdueling Croatia 79-87 in Sunday's last game in Bydgoszcz, Poland. After becoming the last team to qualify for the tournament, France has won all five of its games in Poland and qualified for the quarterfinals. Runs of 2-12, before and halftime, and 0-10 later in the third quarter proved enough for France to put Croatia's quarterfinal hopes in trouble. Tony Parker led the winners with 24 points, while Nicolas Batum added 18 and Boris Diaw 15. Croatia fell despite a heroic 30-point performance from Marko Popovic of Unics Kazan. Popovic made 5 of 7 three-point shots and 15 of 18 free throws in the game, but his team's 16 turnovers hurt. The lead traded hands throughout the first quarter, until Popovic ended it with his first triple, 21-19 in Croatia's favor. His next strike from long-range pushed Croatia's run to 12-1 and the lead to 29-20. Despite the best efforts of Batum and Parker, Croatia still held onto a 46-41 halftime lead. An 0-8 run early in the second quarter, with triples by Batum and Parker, vaulted France in front, 48-51. After Popovic tied it again for Croatia, Parker and Florent Pietrus of Valencia Basket shared the next 10 points, which put France up 51-61 and in control for a long time. When Roko-Leni Ukic hit a triple in the game's final minute, Croatia was back within 77-81, but Diaw answered from deep, settling the matter of France's fifth victory without a loss.
| Group E |
| Last Game , Sunday 13 |
Result |
Standings |
W-L |
| F.Y.R.O.M vs. Germany |
86-75 F |
France |
4-0, +44 |
| Greece vs. Russia |
65-68 F |
Greece |
3-1, +45 |
| Croatia vs. France |
79-87 F |
Russia |
2-2, -2 |
| Next Game, Tuesday 15 |
CET |
Croatia |
1-3, -9 |
| Russia vs. F.Y.R.O.M |
15:45 |
Germany |
1-3, -21 |
| France vs. Greece |
18:15 |
F.Y.R.O.M |
1-3, -57 |
| Germany vs. Cratia |
21:00 |
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Sunday, September 13, 2009
Euroleague.net
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