Greece Scrape Into Second Round

Dimitris Agravanis did not have a good day from the free-throw line but still made big shots for Greece to lead all scorers with 18 points

By Jared Grellet

Greece scraped into the Second Round of the Samsung U18 European Championship with a less-than-convincing 64-55 win over Denmark on Saturday.

Leading by as much as 12 points, Greece were made to work harder than expected against a Danish team that has visibly improved in each of their three outings in Vilnius during the First Round.

After holding their own with Greece for the first 15 minutes, an inability to score in the five minutes leading up to half-time looked like it could be detrimental to Denmark's chances, as Greece turned a one-point deficit into a seven-point lead.

But to the credit of Division A's newcomers, they refused to give up the fight and when David Knudsen sunk a three-pointer with under five minutes remaining in the third quarter, the comeback had begun as the Danes came from nine points in arrears to take a six-point lead on a 15-2 run.

Inevitably however, inexperience and a shallow bench counted against the Danes down the stretch as the small number of players being used by coach Peter Hoffman began to tire, whilst Greece counted on their past of experience in tight situations to get them home.

Dimitrios Agravanis topped Greek scoring with 18 points along with eight rebounds.

Michail Kamperidis recorded a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double.

Rasmus Larsen finished the game with a 16-point, 13-rebound double-double in a losing effort.