MANILA, Philippines – After giving powerhouse USA a run for its money in its penultimate game in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Montenegro ended its campaign with a bang as it defeated Greece, 73-69, at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday, September 3.

Thanks to Nikola Vucevic’s timely buckets in the endgame, Montenegro was able to survive a late fourth-quarter scare from Greece to finish the World Cup with a 3-2 slate.

The Chicago Bulls center Vucevic delivered a game-high 19 points – with six coming in the final two minutes – and 7 rebounds to propel the Montenegrins to the wire-to-wire win. 

“I think we really stayed poised tonight. Once they made those two threes to cut it to four, we were able to execute our offense,” said Vucevic.

“We executed really well, we also made big free throws and big shots at the end,” added the two-time NBA All-Star.

Despite failing to advance to the quarterfinals, Vucevic is proud of how his team performed in this year’s World Cup as they have surpassed their 1-4 record in the 2019 tournament in China. 

Vucevic, who averaged 14.6 points and 6.4 rebounds in the previous World Cup, also had a better showing for Montenegro this year as he put up 19.8 markers and 8.8 boards per game, including a 27-point, 10-rebound performance against Mexico and an 18-point, 16-rebound outing versus USA. 

“I’m really proud of my teammates. I know the game didn’t mean a whole lot score-wise or anything, but to us it did because we finished this tournament on a positive note and go home 3-2, which was huge,” said Vucevic.

“Really proud of our World Cup and hopefully this is something we can do [for] long.” – Rappler.com