12.09.2011

Russia Last-Gasp Win To Earn Top Spot

Turning Point: The game-winning shot by Sergey Monya from three-point range decided the contest.

Game Hero: Aside from Monya, Aleksey Shved produced another encouraging display with 14 points an 6 rebounds.

Stats Don't Lie: Russia crushed their opponent on the glass 45-28.

Sergey Monya celebrating his incredible buzzer-beater in front of FYR of Macedonia coach Marin Dokuzovski

 

A dramatic buzzer-beater by Sergey Monya preserved the unbeaten status of Russia in a titanic tussle with F.Y.R. of Macedonia.

The Russian captain launched a three-pointer to help his team claim a 63-61 success, top group F, extend their winning streak to eight games and set up a quarter-final clash with Serbia.

It was tough luck on plucky F.Y.R. of Macedonia who fought gallantly without the influential Todor Gechevski to give hosts Lithuania real food for thought ahead of their last eight match-up.

F.Y.R. of Macedonia started the game in a perfect way when they raced out to an 8-0 lead. It caught Russia cold but it wasn't long before they caught up. They posted an 11-3 run to tie the game up, although F.Y.R. of Macedonia took a slender 20-19 advantage into the second period.

Russia then chose a smaller and more mobile line-up and it proved fruitful as they scored 9 of the next 10 points as F.Y.R. of Macedonia head coach Marin Dokuzovski called time-out in a bid to stop the rot.

With the Balkan side trailing 30-23, both teams began to find some form from the perimeter as the first half drew to a close with a flurry of three-point shots.

Big man Giorgij Chekovski came off the bench to make a couple from range for his team as F.Y.R. of Macedonia cut the gap and made it a one-possession game heading to the locker rooms at 37-34.

It also gave them some impetus, for when they returned to the floor and with points very much at a premium, they held Russia to just two scores in over six minutes to take the lead.

Andrei Kirilenko was having a rare off night but Russia finally came alive offensively through more great work by the ever-improving Aleksey Shved who scored six points in the period to put his team 51-49 in front heading into the final quarter.

Russia then began to take control thanks to a 7-2 run, F.Y.R. of Macedonia were getting no easy looks and found only one basket in five minutes.

However Russia then suffered a drought and went scoreless for six minutes as F.Y.R. of Macedonia sunk back-to-back triples through Vojdan Stojanovski and Vlado Iliveski to set up a thrilling finale - eventually decided by Monya's shot.

 

13.09.2011

Quotes Russia vs. F.Y.R. of Macedonia

FYR of Macedonia Guard Vlado Ilievski:
"It was a very difficult game. It came down to the last second and then Monya made a big shot. We had a chance to win the first place, and it's very disappointing. We'll need to recover from thsi quickly, because next game is against Lithuania. We will play them in a big game in front of 15,000 people in a new arena. That's not the best thing I guess, but that's reality and we'll have to handle that. We need to stop their three pointers and easy points, because if we let them get in a good rhythm and make the fans go crazy we'll have no chance to win and won't make the Semi-Finals. We are so close to that now. It'll be a shame not to make it."

Russia Forward Sergey Monya:
"It was a big shot. There was very little time to do something. It was 0.7 seconds to go and I had to act fast. I told Shved to pass me the ball, he did and I went up for the shot. it's really a great feeling. It was a very tough game. We didn't play well in some minutes, and it was hard to get this win but we did it and got the first place in the group again. Now we will face Serbia in the Quarter-Finals. it's going to be a very tough game. We have one day rest tomorrow. We will gather some energy and study Serbia the best we can, because we don't plan to stop here."

FYR of Macedonia Head Coach Marin Dokuzovski:
"Firstly, congratulations to Russia for the win. With this game we again proved we deserve to go to the quarter-finals. We knew before the start of the game rebounding would be our problem as we don't have Todor Gechevski. I think we played very well in defence again but I think the Russian bench solved the problem for them again."

Russia Head Coach David Blatt:
"We didn't play well because they didn't allow us to play well. I am very happy and proud of my players that they did not give up. They didn't mentally drop. It was a big challenge and a big game to win. I will remember this one for the great play at the end by a great captain. There was also a great screen by Vorontsevich to get Monya open and he deserves a lot of credit too."