Arizona guard Kerr Kriisa had eight assists to go with nine points Saturday but couldn't save Estonia from Ukraine's emotional 74-73 comeback win in a EuroBasket game at Assago, Italy.
After drawing a foul with seven seconds left and Ukraine ahead by one, Kriisa inbounded to big man Maik-Kalev Kotsar, who handed the ball back to Kriisa at the top of the key. But Kriisa appeared to slip briefly as he drove inside, then managed to throw an off-balance pass back to Kristian Kullamae, who threw up a difficult 3-pointer at the buzzer that failed.
"Another unlucky position we had in the last moments," Estonia coach Jukka Toijala said in the postgame press conference. "Basketball gods was not on our side."
Estonia led much of the game but never pulled away and broke down in the final moments after leading 73-70 with 2:05 to go. Volodymyr Herun made a layup with 1:51 left to pull Ukraine within a point and then, after Estonia's Henri Drell blocked a shot, Ukraine's Illya Sydorov picked up the offensive rebound and then made a game-winning putback with 55 seconds left.
"If you keep fighting, something good will happen in the end," Sydorov said.
At the end of the press conference, Sydorov then credited the inspiration behind Ukraine's team.
"Can I say one more thing?" Sydorov said, then added: "I want to say a huge thank you to the people in Ukraine who watch us play. I know that a lot of guys who now fight for our country watch our games, and it's a big honor.
"We're talking about you. We're thinking about you every day when we're here and I hope that everything will stop as soon as possible. Once again, a huge thank you for everyone who is fighting for Ukraine. I hope it will end, that the war will end."
Kriisa wound up shooting 2 for 9 from the field (2 for 7 from 3-point range) and had just two turnovers to his eight assists. Kotsar led Estonia with 17 points and nine rebounds while Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk led Ukraine in scoring with 18 points.
In other EuroBasket games involving players with UA ties:
-- Former UA forward Lauri Markkanen had 17 points and five rebounds to help Finland coast past Poland 89-59.
-- Former UA center Dusan Ristic had four points and three rebounds for Serbia in its 81-68 win over Czech Republic. Ristic is playing behind NBA All-Star Nikola Jokic, who had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Serbia.
-- Greece beat Italy 85-81 in a rough game for former UA guard Nico Mannion, who had six points while making just 1 of 7 shots from the field. Mannion also had two turnovers without an assist for Italy.
On Monday, former UA teammates Ristic and Markkanen will meet when Serbia faces Finland at noon, when Italy will face Ukraine will also play. Estonia will face Croatia at 5:15 a.m. on Monday. All games will be carried on ESPN Plus.
