Croatia Crash Out After Nail Biter

Turning Point: With his team up 66-63, Greece's Antonis Fotsis made a big-time three-pointer from the corner to stretch the lead and, in the end, it was a cushion they desperately needed.

Game Heroes: Antonis Fotsis was on fire from downtown all game long, hitting five triples on his way to a 17-point haul, while Nick Calathes was not exactly clinical shooting-wise, but grabbed eight rebounds, handed out four assists and also got four steals.

Stats Don't Lie: Croatia laboured from the perimeter and may have been successful had they managed more than four of 17.

Croatia crashed out of the tournament after paying the price for a terrible start in a dramatic game against Greece.

Knowing they had to find a win to go through, Croatia were dreadful during the first half and found themselves down by as many as 20 points giving them a mountain to climb.

To their credit, they showed real heart in the second half and almost accomplished a legendary comeback.

They were eventually pipped 74-69 to leave Greece breathing a sizeable sigh of relief with Coach Ilias Zouros and his players having almost snatched a defeat from the jaws of victory.

The result also maintains the hopes of Finland who could join Greece and F.Y.R. of Macedonia in progressing to Vilnius for Round 2 if the latter beats Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last game of Group C.

Both sides knew victory would secure their spot, but a disappointing Croatia side was simply blown away during the opening two quarters.

At its peak, a Kostas Vasileiadis Vaselidas three-pointer made it a 43-23 lead for Greece and Croatia didn't look to have the stomach for a fight.

Whatever Croatian coach Josip Vrankovic said to his players in the locker room at the break certainly had an effect.

His team launched a stirring fight-back, which while ultimately doomed, helped set up a thrilling conclusion.

Croatia worked hard to cut the gap to single digits by the start of the fourth and things became incredibly tense when they managed to make it 69-67 with 24 seconds left but Greece held their nerve on the free-throw line.