Finland and Senegal bounced back in a big way on Day Two of the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain. Finland beat Ukraine in Group C, while Senegal upset Puerto Rico in Group B, while Team USA needed a big third quarter to trounce a game Turkey squad. Spain, Brazil, Greece, Croatia, Lithuania, and Slovenia also all preserved their unbeaten slates even as France literally scraped by Serbia by a single point.
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| Anthony Davis slams it home as Team USA had some difficulty getting rid of Turkey. (image from FIBA.com) |
Game recaps (adapted from FIBA.com):
Group A:
FRANCE over SERBIA, 74-73
Box Scores
France hit back from their narrow setback to Brazil by edging Serbia. Joffrey Lauvergne, who spent the past two seasons with Partizan Belgrade, had 19 points and 6 rebounds to lead the French. Antoine Diot, Nicolas Batum, and Edwin Jackson all scored in double-figures for coach Vincent Collet. On the other end, Miroslav Raduljica led Serbia with 21 points and 7 rebounds.
BRAZIL over IRAN, 79-50
Box Scores
Brazil trailed after the first ten minutes, but then they got their heads together and proceeded to pummel Iran the rest of the way. Alex Garcia impressed for the FIBA Americas side, scoring a dozen points on top of 3 rebounds and 3 assists, while Leandro Barbosa and Tiago Splitter dropped 11 and 10 markers respectively. Mohammad Jamshidi and Mahdi Kamrani paced the losing squad with a combined 24-point effort. Big man Hamed Haddadi was limited to just 4 points on 2/7 FG shooting.
SPAIN over EGYPT, 91-54
Box Scores
Spain improved to 2-0 after getting is second straight easy win, this time over Egypt. Serge Ibaka dropped 18 points and grabbed 8 rebounds to lead the home team, while Ibrahim El-Gammal paced Egypt with 16 markers. Spain will face much tougher foes from this point on, though, as it takes on Brazil, France, and Serbia.
Group B:
CROATIA over ARGENTINA, 90-85
Box Scores
Croatia, who needed overtime to beat the Philippines on opening night, recorded a win over a much higher-ranked Argentina. Krunoslav Simon had 18 points and Bojan Bogdanovic 16 for the Croatians as they overcame a 30-point, 9-rebound effort from Luis Scola. Argentina fell to 1-1 with the defeat.
SENEGAL over PUERTO RICO, 82-75
Box Scores
Senegal rode the back of Gorgui Dieng to a nice bounce-back win over Puerto Rico, who dropped to 0-2. Dieng had 18 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 blocks to lead Senegal, which also drew 20 points on 4/5 3pt shooting from Mouhammad Faye. Renaldo Balkman, meanwhile, led Puerto Rico with 21 points and 7 boards.
GREECE over PHILIPPINES, 82-70
Box Scores
Greece defeated the Philippines as Georgios Printezis scored 25 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Gilas Pilipins had trouble stopping Greece's offense as Team Hellas shot 54% from 2-point range. Ioannis Bourousis also impressed for the Greeks, dominating the paint with 12 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. Big men Andray Blatche and June Mar Fajardo led the Filipinos with 21 and 10 markers respectively.
Group C:
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC over NEW ZEALAND, 76-63
Box Scores
The Dominicans prevailed in their battle of 0-1 teams against New Zealand in Bilbao with Francisco Garcia pouring in the points and Juan Coronado providing plenty of defense. Garcia connected on five shots from long range and finished with 29 points in this win over the Tall Blacks. Coronado was a major spark off the bench for Orlando Antigua's team, which was tied at 54-54 early in the fourth quarter but then went in front to stay after a basket from Garcia and a three-ball from James Feldeine.
FINLAND over UKRAINE, 81-76
Box Scores
Finland bounced back from their heavy blowout to the United States on Saturday to beat Ukraine. Shawn Huff had a terrific game for the Finns with 23 points. He nailed five of his eight shots from long range. Ukraine lost shooting guard Sergii Gladyr to a foot injury in the first half and his status for the remainder of the tournament is in question. Pooh Jeter led the losing side with 24 points and 9 assists.
USA over TURKEY, 98-77
Box Scores
Turkey thrilled the Bilbao crowd in the last game of the night against the defending champions USA. Ergin Ataman's team led, 40-35, at half-time with their defense making it difficult for the Americans. Center Omer Asik was particularly impressive on defense while, on offense, the Turks controlled the tempo. The USA, with Kenneth Faried leading the way, finally caught fire in the third quarter. They opened up a 66-60 lead by the end of the frame and then pulled away for the victory.
Group D:
SLOVENIA over MEXICO, 89-68
Box Scores
The Slovenians got 22 points from Zoran Dragic and rolled to a great victory over Mexico, dropping last year's FIBA Americas Championship winners to 0-2. Phoenix Sun Goran Dragic droppedf 18 points and 6 assists to backstop his brother, while Gustavo Ayon paced the Mexicans with 23 points on a flawless 9/9 FG shooting effort.
LITHUANIA over ANGOLA, 75-62
Box Scores
Jonas Valanciunas finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds for Lithuania as the Baltic side clinched a victory over Angola, a result that evened the African champions' record at 1-1. Donatas Montiejunas had a dozen to lead the victors, while Adas Juskevicius went 3/3 from downtown. Eduardo Mingas had 14 markers and 9 boards to lead the Angolans.
AUSTRALIA over KOREA, 89-55
Box Scores
Australia cruised in its win over Korea with Joe Ingles scoring 17 points. Aron Baynes recorded a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double for the victors, while Cameron Bairstow contributed 13 markers off the bench. Pint-sized Kim Sun-Hyung paced Korea with 13 points, while Cho Sung-Min and Kim Jong-Kyu each tallied 10 markers.
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