By Josh Cohen
Sept. 7, 2016
While two blowout wins against inferior competition set a good tone for Montenegro, rallying from an 11-point deficit against a previously undefeated squad in a hostile environment was even more impressive.
Nikola Vucevic had one of his finer all-around performances of the competition with 17 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two blocks to lead Montenegro (3-0) to a thrilling 76-74 victory over Georgia (2-1) on Wednesday in Tbilisi. The two countries meet again in Bar, Montenegro on Sept. 17.
While he wasn’t as efficient from the field (7-of-22) as he was in the first two games, Vucevic was ultra-aggressive, clutch and versatile. A sign he has been spending time this summer extending his range, Vucevic buried a pair of 3-pointers including a go-ahead trey with 1:31 remaining.
Vucevic also came up with two offensive rebounds on Montenegro’s final possession that led to a game-winning putback from Nemanja Djurisic with three seconds left.
Derek Needham, who was born in the United States and is a citizen of Montenegro, drilled a crucial three with just over a minute remaining. Georgia would eventually tie the game before Djurisic’s huge bucket. Michael Dixon, an American-born player for Georgia, missed a triple right before the final buzzer.
Zaza Pachulia finished with a game-high 22 points for Georgia before fouling out with 2:10 left.
Montenegro is now one step closer to qualifying for 2017 EuroBasket. It last played in this event in 2013. Vucevic averaged seven points and four rebounds in limited minutes for his country that year.
Montenegro plays its final road game of this qualifying tournament against Slovakia on Sept. 10 before returning home for the final two games against Albania on Sept. 14 and Georgia on Sept. 17. The first place finishers from each of the seven groups along with four second-place teams will advance to next year’s European event.
After three games, Vucevic is averaging 16 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists.