Dario Saric led the Croatian national team to their second victory over Estonia, which is still winless, in EuroBasket's Group C.
Karlo Matkovic and Dario Saric combined for 32 points while Croatia (2-1) defeated a resilient Estonian national team (0-3), 73-70 (20-16, 13-13, 20-19, 20-22), to get their second win in Group C.
Croatia could not shake the Estonians, who were just a few points behind almost the entire game.
With 9 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Dario Saric committed a shooting foul on Janari Joesaar, which awarded the Estonian 3 free throws and a chance to tie the game. Joesaar converted on two out of three and reduced the deficit to 1 point (70-69).
After that Kristian Kullamae had a chance to send the game to overtime with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer but it was off.
With 2:58 left in the fourth quarter, Maik-Kalev Kotsar converted on a driving layup to cut Estonia's deficit down to 1 point (66-65).
Dario Saric collected a double-double and was the top performer for the winners with 15 points (2/7 2PT, 3/4 3PT, 5/6 FT), adding 12 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals for 21 EFF.
Siim-Sander Vene had 18 points (1/1 2PT, 5/10 3PT, 1/2 FT), 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 18 EFF for Estonia.
Croatia: Karlo Matkovic 17, Dario Saric 15 (12 REB, 3 AST), Jaleen Smith 13 (7 AST), Krunoslav Simon 9 (5 REB);
Estonia: Siim-Sander Vene 18, Maik-Kalev Kotsar 17 (5 REB), Kristian Kullamae 14.
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