Jeff Brooks (R, front) of Italy vies with Devon Collier (2nd L) and Ramon Clemente (3rd, L) of Puerto Rico for a rebound during the group J match between Puerto Rico and Italy at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, Sept. 8, 2019. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)
WUHAN, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Italy turned the tables on Puerto Rico in the overtime period on Sunday for an 94-89 win in their Group J game at the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Puerto Rico led 46-26 at half time and 64-50 at the end of the third period. But the solid European team brought its rivals into a tough overtime through four three-pointers in the fourth quarter.
Marco Belinelli finished with five of 27 points in the overtime period, helping his team say goodbye to the big event with a victory. The most valuable player of the game, Danilo Gallinari, added 22 points and six rebounds before throwing his shoes to his Chinese fans at the Wuhan sports center.
Before their clash, both teams had no chance to become quarterfinalists in the ongoing World Cup. It was the last game of the big event for both sides.
Puerto Rico started the game with a 8-2 run. Although the European team responded with a 7-1 run, it was their rivals who had 11 fast-break points in the first period to end the quarter 24-13 ahead.
With 6:51 left before the halftime buzzer, Alexander Franklin helped Puerto Rico build an 18-point advantage and forced Italy to request a timeout. Before the break, the European side suffered eight turnovers and only converted 6-of-17 two-point shots, 35 percent accuracy compared to 16-of-30 for Puerto.
Italy found its rhythm and trimmed its deficit to 14 points after three quarters. Ariel Filloy finished with three three-pointers and a two plus one at the start of the fourth period, tied the game at 83-all with forty minutes to go.
Puerto Rico trailed 90-87 with 30 seconds left in overtime, and had the ball with a chance to tie. Instead, David Huertas missed a key three-pointer and the Italians managed to turn out the win.
"We didn't show ourselves in the first half, and we knew that we had to come out with a different attitude, different intensity in the second half," said Gallinari.
"In the locker room before the second half, we are talking about that we didn't want the team Italy which we were in was remembered for the worst loss in our history of the world championships," Italian head coach Meo Sacchetti said.
