Wake Forest Athletics
Mitoglou at the FIBA U-19 World Championships
7/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Updated July 5, 2015
By Josh Gresh, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@TieDyeNation)
HERAKLION, Greece -- Wake Forest rising sophomore Konstantinos Mitoglou competed with the Greece national team at the FIBA U-19 World Championships and the host nation finished fourth in the tournament. Read up on the recaps of each game that Mitoglou and Greece played during the tournament.
After playing and starting in all seven games at the FIBA World Championships, Mitoglou averaged 9.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists, and 0.6 steals, while playing in 24.5 minutes per game. Mitoglou finished with a 45.1 percent shooting percentage from the field during the tournament.
Greece 83, Korea 55 -- June 27 (Game 1)
Final Stats | Watch Replay
In Greece's first game in the group stage, they cruised past Korea 83-55 in the Group D opening contest. Mitoglou started and finished with 12 points shooting 60 percent from the field. He also added six rebounds and one assist in 17:49 total minutes of playing time.
Greece outscored Korea in all four quarters of the game and had an eight-point lead at halftime 36-28. Mitoglou had eight points and two offensive rebounds at the half. The host began to pull away in the second half outscoring Korea 47-27 en-route to a 83-55 opening victory.
Greece 70, Dominican Republic 65 -- June 28 (Game 2)
Final Stats | Watch Replay
Mitoglou used clutch free throw shooting in the fourth quarter and turned in a double-double performance with 14 points and 10 rebounds as Greece held off the Dominican Republic 70-65 in game two of the tournament at Heraklion Arena. Adding to his 34:54 minutes of action, Mitoglou also added four assists to his stat line and was aggressive going to the basket heading the free throw line five times.
The Dominican Republic held the 36-34 advantage at the half. Mitoglou had six points, four rebounds, and three assists at the break. After a strong third quarter from the Greeks gave them a 54-48 lead, the Dominican Republic cut the lead to one point 66-65 with 21 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Mitoglou hit four clutch free throws down the stretch to help Greece win 70-65.
Greece 69, Serbia 60 -- June 30 (Game 3)
Final Stats | Watch Replay
Despite getting into foul trouble early, Mitoglou helped with a second half comeback and posted nine points, eight rebounds, three steals and one assist as Greece topped Serbia 69-60 to take first place in Group D.
After trailing 37-33 at the half, Mitoglou changed the momentum in Greece's favor in the third quarter with a monster dunk with 7:03 left in the period to cut into Serbia's lead 41-37. Only trailing by one after three quarters 47-46, Greece outscored Serbia 23-13 in the fourth quarter to earn the 69-60 victory, taking first place in the group.
Greece 69, Tunisia 60 -- July 1 (Round of 16)
Final Stats | Watch Replay
In the FIBA U-19 World Championship round of 16, Greece rolled past Tunisia 100-48 at Heraklion Arena. Mitoglou only played in the first quarter and was rested for Greece's quarterfinal matchup against Spain. In 8:46 of action, Mitoglou finished with six points, three rebounds and one assist.
After taking a 21-11 lead at the end of the first quarter, Greece never looked back including outscoring Tunisia 38-12 in the second en-route to the 100-48 victory.
Greece 70, Spain 59-- July 3 (Quarter Finals)
Final Stats | Highlights
After a tightly contested first half, Greece used a big first quarter and Mitoglou's strong fourth quarter helped them defeat Spain 70-59 on Friday in the quarterfinals of the FIBA U-19 World Championships at Heraklion Arena.
For the game, Mitoglou notched his second double-double of the tournament with 11 points and 11 rebounds. He also added a steal and an assist during the game. Greece's victory places them in a semifinals matchup against the United States on Saturday afternoon.
After the first two quarters, both teams were tied up 26-26 at the half. Both teams struggled from the field and couldn't score more than 14 points in a quarter each. Mitoglou started the first two periods with three points and six rebounds heading into the second half.
Greece used a 25-15 run in the third quarter to take a 51-41 lead heading into the final quarter. Mitoglou had five points and nine rebounds at that point.
The third quarter performance would prove to be the difference. Mitoglou scored six of his 11 points in the fourth and Greece held on for the 70-59 victory over Spain to secure their semi final game against the United States.
USA 82, Greece 76 -- July 4 (Semi Finals)
Final Stats | Highlights
Greece took an early lead and kept the game close, but once the United States took the lead, they held on for the 82-76 victory in the semifinals of the FIBA U-19 World Championships at Heraklion Arena on Saturday.
For the game, Mitoglou finished with six points, five rebounds and two steals. He also added a steal and an assist during the game. Greece will play in the Bronze Medal game on Sunday for a chance to finish third place in the tournament.
Hellas had an early 8-4 lead just under five minutes into the first quarter, but the top-ranked United States took their first lead of the ball game 13-12 with 46 seconds left in the quarter. After a low scoring battle, USA held a 17-12 lead after the first.
An evenly matched second quarter kept the United States in the lead 37-32 at the half as both teams scored 20 points each in the second stanza.
The host was able to cut into the USA's lead after the third quarter outscoring them 21-20 in the period and the United States held a 57-53 lead heading into the final quarter.
Greece kept the game close and kept fighting, but despite coming as close as three points to the USA, big buckets late in the fourth secured the 82-76 victory for the United States. They earned a spot in the final and went on to be the 2015 FIBA U-19 World Champions.
Turkey 80, Greece 71-- July 5 (Bronze Medal Game)
Final Stats | Highlights
Mitoglou had a big first quarter scoring nine points and three rebounds, but Greece was unable to hold on as they fell to Turkey 80-71 in the FIBA U-19 World Championship Bronze Medal game at Heraklion Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Wake Forest's Thessaloniki, Greece native finished the game with 10 points, six rebounds and one assist during the team's loss.
The first quarter was tightly contested with both teams tied at 16-16 after 10 minutes. Mitoglou opened the game with a massive fast break slam dunk for the first bucket of the game to give Greece a 2-0 lead.
Turkey used strong defensive play in the second and third quarters to take a commanding 56-44 lead heading into the final quarter. Greece only managed to score 15 points in the second quarter and 13 points in the third.
Greece's offense came alive in the third, but it wasn't enough as Turkey held on for the 80-71 victory over the host nation. Greece finished fourth in the tournament.
