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| Zhou Qi and the Chinese go up to 3-1 after narrowly beating the Czechs. |
Croatia continued its perfect run at the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship with a hard-fought win over hosts Lithuania in Group B, while Argentina blasted Korea to eliminate the Asians. Spain also booked its spot in the Quarter-Finals.
Karlo Zganec had a monster double-double of 20 points and 19 rebounds to go with 4 blocks in leading Croatia to an 82-78 victory over the hosts to move on to the Knockout Round with a 4-0 record.
Tomislav Gabric added 18 points and Marko Arapovic had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists for the Croatians.
Lithuania dropped to 1-3 despite 23 points from Haroldas Saprykinas and 14 points and 9 rebounds from Edvinas Seskus.
“We played against a strong team. They’re European champions for a reason. It was hard to find the weak spot of the team,” said Lithuania coach Paulius Juodis.
“We tried to change our defensive systems, but we fell short once again. I’m satisfied with the effort shown by the guys.”
“We have played very good. But we are just missing that little something. We played three overtimes and then lost today by just four points. But we believe we will win tomorrow and reach the quarterfinals,” said Saprykinas.
Spain improved to 3-1 following a convincing 83-62 win over Canada as Alberto Abalde scored 21 points off the bench and Agusti Sans had 14 points, 9 assists and 6 steals.
Canada dropped to 2-2 despite getting 17 points from Marial Shayok.
Argentina are also 2-2 as they demolished Korea, 106-59, to eliminate the Asians. Matias Aristu and Lucas Gargallo both scored 15 points off the bench to lead six players in double figures for Argentina.
Heo Hoon’s 13 points could not keep Korea from falling to 0-4.
In the final Group B games on Wednesday, Korea faces Canada, Croatia and Spain will play for first place, and Lithuania squares off with Argentina, needing at least a victory to stand a chance to advance.
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| Alberto Abalde and the Spaniards are on their way to the quarterfinals. |
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| Karlo Zganec was ruthless as the Croatians defeated the Lithuanians. |
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| Matias Aristu led the Argentine effort in blowing out the Koreans. |
Defending champions United States moved into the quarters of the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship with a win over France in Group A. Australia and China also moved into the final eight with the Czech Republic, the French and Egypt all still alive for the knockout stage.
Jahlil Okafor led three players in double figures with 21 points and 13 rebounds as the USA knocked off France, 86-50, to improve to 4-0. Stanley Johnson added 12 points and 10 rebounds and Conner Frankamp had 12 points as well.
France dropped to 1-3 despite getting 14 points from Petr Cornelie.
Australia survived a dogfight against African champions Egypt, winning, 88-73, in double overtime to improve to 3-1. Dante Exum scored 9 of his 23 points in the second overtime and added 6 rebounds and 7 assists, while Ben Simmons collected 13 points and 14 rebounds, and Mirko Djeric had 22 points and 8 assists.
Ehab Amin paced Egypt – now 0-4 in Group A – with 23 points, but he missed two free throws and a lay-up in the final two minutes of the first overtime. Omar Abdeen also missed two foul shots for Egypt in that stretch as the Africans missed a great chance to notch their first victory.
“We’re not disappointed at all,” said Amin.
“Today we played well. This is the first game we played our system on offense and defense. Tomorrow we will show 100 percent of our basketball.”
China is also 3-1 after coming back from a nine-point deficit after three quarters to beat the Czech Republic, 71-68.
Zhao Jiwei tallied 20 points, including two free throws with 2.4 seconds left, while Zhou Qi added 10 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocks for the Chinese.
Radovan Kouril scored 20 points for the Czechs, but his three-point attempt at the buzzer was off, dropping them to 1-3. Martin Peterka collected 15 points and 16 rebounds in the losing effort.
The last day of Preliminary Round action in Group A has Egypt taking on the Czech Republic, needing a victory by around 40 points and a loss by France against Australia to reach the quarters.
The final Group A game has USA taking on China in what will likely decide the group winner.
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| Dante Exum flashed his fine form anew as the Aussies survived Egypt in 2 OTs. |
Source: All images and recaps are from kaunas2012.fiba.com.
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