Serbia is the first nation to qualify for the semi-finals of this World Cup after delivering a show of force against Lithuania, which had just offered Team USA.
Both teams put a lot of intensity from the start, each relying on its strengths, the 3-pointer for Lithuania (5/7 in the first quarter) and the aggressiveness towards the circle for Serbia. Although the fight was tight, it was Lithuania who took the lead in the first act, counting up to six points in advance (16-10) before the return to business of Bogdan Bogdanovic and his teammates ( 25-24).
The development of Bogdan Bogdanovic
The latter responded with a 6-0 to attack the second quarter, thanks to the trio Davidovac – Petrusev – Guduric (25-30). Enough to reverse the trend, the Lithuanians having lost their address (0/7 in the second quarter), allowing the Serbs to drive the point home with Nikola Milutinov twice then Bogdan Bogdanovic at 3-points.
Symbol of the momentum recovered by Serbia just before the break, when Mindaugas Kuzminskas missed his 3-pointer, giving Bogdanovic two more points on the counterattack.
On mission, the back of the Hawks (18 points at 8/10 shooting at the break) concluded his festival with a new outside missile to bring the score to 49-38 at halftime.
Upon returning from the locker room, the Lithuanian revolt was quickly stifled by the hot shots of the two Jovics, Nikola and Stefan, who perfectly knew how to take turns to push their opponent (65-51), to 3-points or on the authoritarian dunk of the Miami player, left alone under the circle. On their way, the men of Svetislav Pesic thus increased the gap to +18 with 10 minutes remaining (73-55). Filip Petrusev then launched the final bouquet on two 3-point missiles then a dunk to ensure an unquestionable victory for the Serbs, 87 to 68.
In the semi-final, Serbia will face the winner of Canada – Slovenia (tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.).
Highlights and stats to come…
