Game Summary

Turning Point: After Nikola Vujcic made just one of two foul shots with 14 seconds left, Fridzon two free throws with 13.0 seconds left for a three-point lead 59-56. He made two more with 1.5 seconds left but had to watch Davor Kus's desperation three go just off target.

Hero: Fridzon held the nerves down the stretch.

Stats: Russia shot 65 percent from two-point range while making 20 of 30 free throws.

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Vitalii Fridzon made four free throws in the final 13 seconds as reigning champions Russia remained in the hunt for the EuroBasket 2009 quarter-finals with a 62-59 victory over Croatia.

Russia used a full team effort to improve to 1-2 in the Qualifying Round with five players scoring at least eight points, led by Timofey Mozgov's 18 points and eight rebounds.

Russia as a team shot 65 percent from two-point range to make up for their struggles from long range (4 of 19 - 21 percent).

"Obviously this was a defensive game and we were just a little better defending the post than they were," said Russia coach David Blatt.

"They are a better team than we are but we were a little bit better today."

Blatt's men have struggled on offense, which is the reason the coach said his team shot 20 of 30 foul shots compared to 10 of 14 for Croatia.

"We're having trouble throwing the ball in the ocean now. So, we're trying to pass inside a little bit more. We figure the closer we get to the basket the better," said the coach.

"We played tough today and wanted to win this game very much, because we knew that if we lose today then our chances to make it to the next round are very small. Everybody played great defense. It was very important for us to show that we can beat a team like Croatia," said Sergey Monya.

Croatia shot just 34 percent for the game and could not take advantage of grabbing 15 offensive rebounds.

"We missed some easy lay-ups and made turnovers we shouldn't have, and it made it very difficult to cover for that," said Croatian big man Nikola Vujcic, who made just 1 of 10 from the field.

"Russia played good defense, very tough and every play was difficult to execute. We spent a lot of energy on defense, because Russia is a very strong and athletic team, and maybe that hurt us on the other side of the court."

"If you score 59 points it's very difficult to win against any opponent," added coach Repesa.

Mario Kasun led the way for Croatia with 13 points while Zoran Planinic had 12 points and Marko Banic added 11 points.

Croatia started the game cold, making just three of their first 13 shots while Mozgov scored seven points and Fridzon drained a three-pointer to give Russia an 11-7 lead.

But Repesa's men hit their next three field goal attempts and two foul shots to jump ahead 16-14 and it was 16-16 after one period.

Croatia were in front 21-20 but then tallied just one basket - Kasun's offensive rebound put-back - over a six-minute stretch in watching Mozgov continue his fine game in helping Russia grab a 28-23 advantage.

It was 28-26 at intermission after Planinic's three-pointer late in the half.

Croatia had another dry spell in the third quarter - this time for three minutes - and Russia pushed ahead 36-30. The cushion was 40-34 after Mozgov's alley-oop dunk.

But Blatt looked on in anguish as his offense committed three shot clock violation turnovers in four possessions and Roko-Leni Ukic and Kasun combined for eight straight points in pushing the Croats ahead 42-40.

It was 42-42 going into the fourth quarter.

The game remained tight in the final period with two lead changes before Planinic's triple knotted the game again at 51-51 and his layup tied it at 55-55 with a minute to play.

With 22 seconds left, Mozgov missed two free throws which could have upped the margin to 59-55 and then Vujcic made just one of two with 14.1 seconds remaining for 57-56.

Fridzon made two free throws and then Anton Ponkrashov made one of two and Russia led 60-54 with 5.4 seconds left. After Marko Popovic hit a three-pointer with 3.1 seconds left, Fridzon made two foul shots with 1.5 seconds to play. And Davor Kus's desperation three was just off target at the buzzer.

Mario Stojic (Croatia):

"It was very defensive game. Our two-point percentage was too low. Mozgov had a great game." 

Nikita Kurbanov (Russia):

"Everybody saw that the game was very tough. We are pleased and satisfied we made it."

Jasmin Repesa (Croatia):

"They deserve this win 100%. When you score 59 points it's difficult to win a game against any opponent. France will be a tough opponent for us. They are an odds-on favorite of the whole tournament."

David Blatt (Russia):

"We made it. They're a great team, but today we were a little better. We lost two games in the first round. We missed then a lot of shots. Today we executed much better. This team doesn't have big names but the group never quits."

Exactly two years to the date after beating Croatia in the Qualifying Round on their way to clinching the EuroBasket 2007 title, reigning champions Russia face off against Croatia again knowing a victory is very much needed to think about reaching the Quarter-Finals.

David Blatt's Russians were disappointed when Germany advanced because that meant they came into the Qualifying Round with an 0-2 record with a long way to go to the final eight.

Nikola Vujcic has played well for Croatia.

Blatt admits he's cautiously optimistic about the Friday encounter in Bydgoszcz against Jasmin Rapesa's Croatians in the first game in Group E.

The Russians played tough defense in all three games but have little to show for their efforts, other than that youthful inexperience too often rules over strong effort.

If Blatt's young side can improve a bit in their rebounding - the second-worst rebounding team remaining in the tournament - and free throw shooting - second worst foul shooting team left in Poland - then chances are better.

Croatia meanwhile hope that their second half against F.Y.R. of Macedonia is the real Croatian team some believe are possible title contenders.

Rapesa's men fell behind F.Y.R.O.M. by 17 points in the first half but took over the game with a 25-2 run spanning the third and fourth quarter. EuroBasket 2009 fans are waiting for the real Croatia to finally show their face for good.

Head to Head: Russia lead the head-to-head series 4-3 and have faced off in the last three EuroBasket tournaments. In 2007, Russia knocked off Croatia 83-70 in Qualifying Round Group E action on their way to the title.

Last Time Out: Russia lost their last game of the Preliminary Round Group B with a 69-64 loss against France. Croatia notched their second win of Group A by beating F.Y.R. of Macedonia 81-71.

Key Match-up: Nikola Vujcic vs Timofey Mozgov.  The 31-year-old Croatian veteran Vujcic has played a strong tournament thus far and could cause problems for the 23-year-old Mozgov, who finally was able to avoid fouling out against France. Mozgov played 34 minutes against the French after fouling out against Latvia and Germany in a total of 23 minutes played. And with Russia lacking low post players, Mozgov's foul issues will be paramount.

X-Factor: Anton Ponkrashov.  The Russian playmaker seems to have become coach David Blatt's point guard of choice over Sergey Bykov. Ponkrashov played 30 minutes against France after just 25 combined in the first two games and dished out eight assists and scored seven points. But he shot just 2 of 10 from the field while drawing Blatt's ire for trying to back down the smaller Tony Parker on offense even though that play is not in the Russian system. But his scoring ability could be crucial for the Russians.

Key stats: 11.0.  Croatia trail only Serbia with the second fewest number of turnovers committed per game with 11.0.  Russia have the second best opponent field goal percentage at 39.4 percent. And that means that the Croatian point guards will have to do a good job controlling the tempo of the game and getting their teammates in the right spots.

Sounding off:  "We didn't play well in the first round, but we're still here and we need to continue to play like we did in the second half of the last game. We never lose confidence, and never think about the option that we can lose. Russia will play for their life to survive so it will make it more difficult for us. I'm more worried about my team than about the opponent, because if we play tough as we can we shouldn't have problems. But we didn't do that all the time so far. They have a lot of good players, but I think Kelly McCarty is the person we need to stop, and we'll have to do a team work to make it happen." -Croatia center Marko Banic