Ukraine's national basketball team opened the second stage of the 2027 FIBA World Cup qualifiers with a victory over Greece. The match, played in Riga, ended 82:76 in favor of the blue-and-yellow side coached by head coach Ainars Bagatskis. The team took a firm lead in the first quarter (24:19) and, despite several runs by their opponents, held on to their advantage until the final buzzer. Ukraine's top scorer was Oleksandr Kovliar, who tallied 18 points.
Game flow: runs and counter-runs
Early in the second quarter, Greece tried to close the gap, but two free throws by Vyacheslav Bobrov allowed the Ukrainians to pull ahead by seven points. The response was a 7:0 run by the Greeks that brought the game back to equilibrium. After a timeout, Ukraine attacked with fresh legs: Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and Maksym Shulga scored consistently, securing a 40:37 lead at halftime. In the third quarter, the main problem for the team on defense was Tyler Dorsey, but every time he scored, Kovliar and Shulga answered in kind, and with a minute left in the period Mykhailiuk hit a three-pointer to restore an eight-point lead.
Heroes of the game
The fourth quarter began with two successful three-pointers by Andrii Voinalovych, after which the lead reached eleven points and was never relinquished. The final score was 82:76. Ukraine's top performer was Oleksandr Kovliar (18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists), and Maksym Shulga also contributed with 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. In the starting five also featured Tkachenko (6 points, 3 rebounds), Mykhailiuk (13 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists), Bobrov (9 points, 5 rebounds), and Skapynets (7 points, 6 rebounds); Voinalovych added 11 points, Lukashov 2 points and 3 assists, Novytskyi 2 points, and Kobzisty did not score.
Conflicting data
Public sources contain discrepancies in the figures and in how the game is described. In particular, the headline of one article (obozrevatel.com) lists a score of "62:54," which does not match the final 82:76 recorded in the main match chronicle and in the headline on sport.rbc.ua; this likely refers to a snapshot from the online broadcast rather than the final result. Moreover, the source ua-football.com describes the win as "hard-fought," whereas the base chronicle calls it "convincing." The confirmed final result of the match is 82:76 in Ukraine's favor.
What's next
Ukraine's second match of the second stage of the 2027 World Cup qualifiers will take place next week: on August 31, Ainars Bagatskis's team will face Montenegro. Thus, the coach's players have started the new stage of the qualifying campaign with a win and have kept their momentum ahead of the upcoming away test.
