By Semih Tuna/ Stuna@eurohoops.net
Riga, Latvia – Serbia defeated Latvia and improved to 3-0 at the 2025 EuroBasket, officially securing a place in the next phase of the competition.
After the win over the hosts in Riga, Petrusev spoke about the incident from the previous game — his ejection five minutes into the match against Portugal.
Coach Svetislav Pešić didn’t like it and said that such incidents can’t happen again under his watch. Petrusev apologized after scoring 12 points with four rebounds in the win over Latvia.
“It looked bad, and I would like to apologize to my teammates and coach. I can’t allow myself to do that — the national team comes before everyone and everything. I reacted instinctively, but that’s no excuse. I tried to regain the trust of my teammates and coach with energy and play, and that’s how it will continue. Something like that won’t happen again,” Petrusev said.
He also spoke about Bogdan Bogdanović’s absence, with the Serbian captain injured in the game against Portugal and not playing against Latvia.
“Very difficult. It goes without saying how much he means to us. With him, we have extra security; he’s been here the longest of all. We hope he recovers as soon as possible.”
Finally, he praised Nikola Jokić, who scored 39 points and set a new national team record.
“He led all of us. When we see how hard he works, how tough it is for him, and how many points he scores for the team, it gives everyone extra motivation and helps us take a step forward,” Petrusev concluded.