Belarus’ national basketball team gains two victories during preliminary stage of World Championship in Turkey, guaranteeing place in play-offs
In the first Group C match, Belarus defeated the Korean team with a score of 70:64. Under coach Rimantas Grigas, the squad played badly initially, down by 14 points, despite their opponents being by far from the strongest team. However in the second period, they rallied, moving ahead by 20 points.
By the end of the match, the Belarusians relaxed a little, allowing the Koreans to reduce the gap. Yekaterina Snytina claimed 17 goals, and was the top scorer for the Belarusian team.
In the next match, against Cuba, the Belarusian squad struggled to outwit their rivals. Just three minutes before the final whistle, the Cubans were ahead by 11 points; it seemed impossible to catch up but Belarus pulled out all the stops, to win 70:69. Yelena Levchenko scored 20 goals and passed 18 rebounds.
