13.09.2008

Greece Blow Out Belgium

Bulgaria did Belgium a huge favor on Saturday by upsetting Serbia but the Belgians failed to take advantage in Greece.

Needing to win to leapfrog Serbia into second place, Belgium were blown away 79-40 with Evanthia Maltsi pouring in a game-high 30 points for the winners.

With Greece trailing 6-5, a Maltsi three-pointer sparked an 11-0 run that put her side in front for good.

When Maltsi drilled a three-ball at the end of the opening quarter to raise her points haul to 14, the Greeks were on top 26-10.

They took a 43-24 lead to the changing rooms and had a 62-33 stranglehold on proceedings by the end of the third quarter.

Maltsi ended up hitting six of seven (85.7%) shots from long range.

Evelien Callens finished with 14 points for Belgium, who were out-rebounded 43-30.

Belgium still hope to have a ranking that is high enough to play in the Additional Qualifying Round.

13.09.2008

Quotes Greece vs. Belgium

Kostas Missas, Greece coach:

"We got the first place in our group and we wanted to win, because it will benefit us in the draw of the groups of EuroBasket 2009. Our players performed excellently and I would say that they didn't even get tired to get the result we wanted. For 55 days all the girls worked very hard, they showed character and they were focused on their mission. I want to thank my associates on the bench, the medical staff and also the Greek Federation because they gave us everything we needed."

Evanthia Maltsi, Greece player:

"I feel very happy. Everything went well. We were together for a long period. We had five wins in six games, we worked hard and seriously. The difference is that this year we were better in the paint. In the perimeter basically we were the same players. The most important thing is that we qualified."

Olaf Stolz,  Belgium coach:

"Congratulations to Greece. They played strong and we didn't have the answers we needed on the floor. The defeat was a logical conclusion the way we played. Basically we lost our qualification in the game against Greece in Belgium. Regarding our future we have to see what went wrong and to see what we must do to have better results in the future."

Laurence Van Malderen, Belgium player:

"We weren't ready for this game and it is something that was obvious during play. Although Serbia were defeated by Bulgaria, and that was something that suited us, we didn't take advantage of it. It was impossible to play defence against this Greek team. When you lose by 30 points there are no excuses."