HINDI nagpapigil ang world No. 6 Serbia upang tuluyang masungkit ang unang semifinals berth sa FIBA World Cup 2023

Sa pangunguna ni Bogdan Bogdanovic, pinayuko ng Serbia ang dating walang talong Lithuania, 87-68, sa sagupaan ng mga European heavyweights sa Mall of Asia Arena sa Pasay City.

Si Bogdanovic, ang 6-5 Serbian na naglalaro din sa Atlanta Hawks sa NBA, ay umiskor ng 21 points sa 9-of-13 shooting sa 27 minutes na aksyon.

Dahil dito, itinala ni Bogdanovic ang isang milestone matapos makaiskor ng higit 400 points sa FIBA World Cup history at maging ika-anim na player lamang na makagawa nito ngayong 21st century.

Naka-ukit din siya ng kasaysayan na makagawa ng three-pointer sa 23 sunod na FIBA World Cup appearances, katulad ni Kirk Penney sa huling tatlong dekada.

Nagpasikab din sina Filip Petruse, na may 17 points,six rebounds at two assists, at Stefan Jovic, na may 11 points at five assists, para sa Serbia, na bumangon mula sa nalasap na talo sa Italy upang makapasok sa quarterfinals sa ika-apat na sunod na pagkakataon mula 2010.

Si Jovic ay gumawa naman ng tatlong krusyal na three-pointers sa third quarter.

“This is a team win, definitely, against a team that’s also playing team-first basketball, and we respect that. That was what got us even more motivated, to face such an opponent,” pahayag ni Serbia head coach Svetislav Pesic.

“We took away their style of play thanks to our energy and our defense, and we have to say it. That’s the way that we should play, and we’re trying to play that way all the time. We dished out 25 assists, we’re the best fast break team in the World Cup, and that’s what we want, that’s what’s important to us. But to do that, we need to play defense,” dagdag pa niya.

Pinangunahan naman ni Tadas Sederkerskis ang Lithuania sa kanyang 14 points at nine rebounds, kasunod sina Rokas Jokubaitis na may 13 points at nine assists at NBA veteran Jonas Valanciunas na may 11 points at four rebounds.

Inaabangan ngayon ng Serbia kung sino ang mananalo sa enkuwentro ng Slovenia, na pinangungunahan ni Luka Doncic, at Canada, na pinamumunuan ni Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Haharapin naman ng Lithuania, na ginulat ang United States sa kanilang round-of-16 match, ang matatalo sa Canada at Slovenia para malaman ang kanilang final ranking.

The scores:

Serbia (87) – Bogdanovic 21, Petrusev 17, S. Jovic 11, Guduric 9, Milutinov 9, Avramovic 8, N.Jovic 8, Davidovac 2, Marinkovic 1, Ristic 1, Dobric 0.

Lithuania (68) – Sedekerskis 14, Jokubaitis 13, Valanciunas 11, Brazdeikis 11, Normantas 8, Kuzminskas 6, Dimsa 3, Motiejunas 2, Kariniauskas 0, Maldunas 0.

Quarterscores: 24-25, 49-38, 73-55, 87-68.