The fifth day
of the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championships in Dubai, UAE saw Serbia book its
first-ever spot in the last four at a FIBA U17 World Championship as it knocked
off Canada to set up a semifinal showdown against the two-time undefeated
reigning champions United States on Friday, while Australia will take on Spain
in the other semifinal.
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| Paul Desiderio and the rest of Batang Gilas just couldn't topple the mighty Argentines. |
SCORES & RECAPS:
Day Five:
SERBIA over
CANADA, 71-64
Serbia
finished its quarterfinal strong as Vanja Marinkovic nailed five three-pointers
in scoring 18 points to lead the Serbs, while Stefan Peno collected 16 points,
6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Vojislav Stojanovic added 15 points for
the Europeans. Canada lost despite Jamal Murray pouring in 24 points to go with
8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. They will next face China.
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| Vanja Marinkovic had the hot hands as Serbia overcame Canada. |
USA over
CHINA, 113-71
The USA
cruised into the last four romp over China. Henry Ellenson paced five Americans
in double-digits with 21 points, while Diamond Stone scored 17 points, Malik
Newman added 16, and Harry Giles chipped in with a dozen in the win. China got
16 points from Fu Hao and 14 from Hu Jianqiu while Zhao Yanhao was held to 11
points - 11 below his average. The Americans pulled away right away in the
first quarter, building a 20-point lead 30-10. They never looked back and
preserved their unbeaten run in all U17 tournaments.
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| Jayson Tatum skies for the tomahawk against the Chinese. |
AUSTRALIA over
PUERTO RICO, 76-52
Australia
moved within a step of returning to the Finals as they dominated Puerto Rico in
their match-up. Dejan Vasiljevic scored 19 of his 21 points in the first half
to go with 13 rebounds, while Isaac Humphries had 14 of his 16 points after the
break along with 11 rebounds to lead Australia. Puerto Rico, who got 18 points
and nine rebounds from Araldo Toro, will square off against France in Friday's
Classification Games 5-8.
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| Dejan Vasiljevic returned to fine form for the Boomers. |
SPAIN over
FRANCE, 71-67
Spain wasted a
10-point lead in the fourth quarter but fought back to down European rival
France and reach the semis, where they will battle Australia for a spot in the
Finals. Spain, who lost in the top four at the 2012 FIBA U17 Worlds and ended
up taking fourth place, was paced by 20 points from Sergio Garcia. Ramon Vila added 15 points, and Pablo Perez
chipped in with 12. The duo of Santiago Yusta and Xabi Lopez-Arosteguj was held
to just eight combined points - 19.3 points fewer than the average for the
Spaniards' two leading scorers. Stephane Gombauld scored 13 of his 21 points in
the fourth quarter while grabbing 11 rebounds, but he couldn't prevent the
French defeat. Amine Noua had 19 points and eight rebounds in the loss.
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| Sergio Garcia launches from deep as Spain snuck past France. |
ITALY over
JAPAN, 83-56
Italy survived
a 35-point explosion from Rui Hachimura to rout Japan and move on in the
classification round. Andrea La Torre led the way with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 4
assists, and 2 steals as the Azzurri booked their next game against Angola. He
was backstopped by 11 points and 8 boards from Curtis Nwohuocha.
ANGOLA over
UAE, 89-47
The
inside-outside duo of Eric Amadio and Sivlio De Sousa worked wonders here as
Angola dominated UAE. Amadio had 24 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3
steals, while De Sousa poured in 18 markers, 6 boards, and EIGHT blocked shots
for the African champs. On the other end, Rashed Mohammad paced the hosts with
17 points and 4 rebounds. Angola goes up against Italy next, while UAE takes on
Japan.
ARGENTINA over
PHILIPPINES, 84-71
In spite of
the huge 27-point outburst of Jollo Go, the Philippines couldn’t get over the
hump and bowed to a superior Argentine squad. With ace gunner Jolo Mendoza out,
Go tried to rally the Pinoys, but it was to no avail. Coach Miguel Santander of
Argentina just had too many weapons against Batang Gilas. He leaned on the
combined 50 points of Agustin Mas Delfino, Ayan Carvalho, and Jeff Merchant for
the win, saving ace guard Maximo Fjellerup for their next match against Greece.
GREECE over
EGYPT, 67-50
The Greeks
controlled the tempo from the start in this game and rebounded after losing to
Australia in the round of 16. Georgios Papagiannis, who will turn 17 pretty
soon, racked up a double-double line — 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks to
lead Team Hellas, while Ahmed Khalaf dropped 10 markers, 10 boards, and 5
rejections for the Egyptians.
Unless otherwise specified, all images and scores are from
FIBA.
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