Greece: victory without Giannis Antetokounmpo against Cyprus (96-69)

Greece handled business perfectly against Cyprus with a dominant 96-69 victory in Limassol. Vassilis Spanoulis’ team maintains a perfect run with a 2-0 record in Group C, handing the Cypriot hosts their second consecutive defeat.

Despite the absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was rested, the Greeks had enough offensive weapons to win comfortably. Tyler Dorsey particularly stood out with 18 points including 4 three-pointers, along with 1 rebound and 2 assists. Dinos Mitoglou also contributed 18 points, while young Alexandros Samodurov (20 years old) made the most of his playing time with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists.

Dominance built in the second half

The first half hadn’t allowed Greece to build a decisive lead. At the start of the third quarter, the Hellenes were only up by eight points (48-40). That’s when they finally broke through with an 11-2 run that helped them pull away (59-42). Cyprus never managed to get closer than 14 points afterward.

The statistics show Greek mastery: only 6 turnovers, 53% shooting including 45% from three-point range with 13 made threes. The Hellenic defense also limited Cyprus to 38% shooting. For Cyprus, Darral Willis finished as top scorer with 15 points and 8 rebounds.

« Except for the first few minutes where we were very relaxed, we played a very good basketball game. We saw the things we wanted to see, » said Vassilis Spanoulis after the game. His player Panagiotis Kalatzakis added: « We did the job. We didn’t come here thinking it would be an easy game. We always respect our opponents, especially when we play against a team like this, whom we call brothers. »

Greece will try to make it 3-0 on Sunday against Georgia, who beat defending champion Spain but lost to Italy. Cyprus will have the opportunity to face four-time champion Spain for the first time in search of their first victory.