WITH FANS TO VICTORY, BIH SECURES FIRST EUROBASKET WIN

(Patria) - Bosnia and Herzegovina has secured its first victory at Eurobasket, defeating Cyprus by 27 points with a score of 91:64. After this triumph, numerous fans greeted them with thunderous applause.

Several thousand fans traveled from BiH, as well as from around the world, to Limassol to support the Dragons.

The score by quarters was 23:13, 24:13, 11:23, 33:15.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina national basketball team started today's match with the starting five: Gegić, Atić, Lazić, Alibegović, and Nurkić. Amar Gegić scored the first points of this EuroBasket after an assist from Edin Atić.

After that, Gegić assisted Alibegović, who hit a three-pointer, and after just one minute of play, BiH led 5:0. Nurkić quickly scored two points, making it 7:0.

Aggressiveness and control of the defensive rebound were rewarded with new points for the Dragons, and this time Aleksandar Lazić scored a three-pointer, extending the run to 10:0.

Cyprus then scored, marking their first points, bringing the score to 10:2. Jusuf Nurkić responded with a three-pointer, making it 13:2. Cyprus answered with a three-pointer at 13:5.

Very quickly, through the first and second quarters, Bosnia and Herzegovina's lead was constantly increasing.

However, what might worry coach Adis Bećiragić and basketball fans in Bosnia and Herzegovina in general is the third quarter.

The Dragons scored only 11 points in that quarter, while allowing Cyprus to score as many as 23 points. They clearly relaxed too much during the significant lead.

Konstantinos Simitizs stood out for Cyprus, having made five three-pointers out of nine attempts before the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, John Roberson finally woke up, scoring eight consecutive points and thus maintaining a "decent lead" for the Dragons against the Cyprus team.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Nurkić 18, Roberson 8, Alibegović 10, Arslanagić, Atić 8, Halilović, Gegić 10, Penava 7, Lazić 7, Hrelja 4, Vrabac 10, Kamenjaš 9.

After the match, Adin Vrabac and Jusuf Nurkić gave statements.

"First of all, I want to greet the fans and hope they continue to support us throughout the rest of the championship. There was some nervousness. I expected a slightly better atmosphere considering Cyprus is the host, but we had a home atmosphere. We have a day off to prepare and move on," said Vrabac.

He scored 10 points in this game.

Nurkić stated that they have confidence in their shots.

"We need to focus on the next game, and that's all that matters to us. We knew we were better than the Cypriots," said Nurkić.