Egypt put up a fight, but Greece did not disappoint in front of 11,216 fans in the stands of the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus. Even with Giannis Antetokounmpo resting, coach Vassilis Spanoulis guided his team to a 93-71 win over the African team.
The hosts were probably a bit too relaxed, being the hot favourites to win this one. Egypt showed them exactly what they showed the rest of the world at the last FIBA Basketball World Cup, staying attached to the Greeks’ hip during the first half and trailing by just 5 points, 46-41, early on in the third period.
Greece’s Vassilis Charalampopoulos had a three-pointer which stretched the gap into double digits, and once Kostas Papanikolaou and Georgios Papagiannis joined him, the lead ballooned to 61-45 at the end of the period.
There was no coming back from that deficit, and Greece could already start thinking about the matchup with Slovenia on Saturday.
Greece will enjoy a day off before the firecracker of a duel with Slovenia in the Semi-Finals.
Source: FIBA.
