By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In a “do or die” match in Montpellier, Petteri Koponen’s jump shot, 3,5 seconds before the end, gave Finland the win against Russia 81-79.
“You have to play a play and today we made a play at the end and we won. The other day, we didn’t make a play and we lost. That’s sometimes the small differences in basketball,” said Finland’s coach, Henrik Dettmann.
After a close first half (36-38), the game continued to be a derby with consecutive lead changes (17, until the end of the third quarter). A 10-2 run in the beginning of the last quarter gave Finland a four-point advantage (73-69), but Russia came back and regained the lead with 2:41 to go.
But, Kopponen said the final word to offer his team a much-needed victory, as Finland retained their hopes to qualify to the knockout stage, whereas Russia is close to elimination. To be exact a win by France in a few hours means that Russia is mathematically eliminated.
The Russian coach Evgeny Pashutin was proud of his players, but disappointed with the defeat: “The players did the maximum, all that they could do. Our target in this EuroBasket was qualification for the Olympic Games or at least reach the last 16. Now, we’re going to continue to battle, and do everything we can in our next games.”
Erik Murphy was the top scorer for the winners with 19 points (and seven rebounds), while Vitaly Fridzon had 22 for Russia, but missed the chance to beat the buzzer at the end.
Finland v Russia – Group A – Game Highlights – EuroBasket 2015 by FIBA