Day 10 of FIBA Recap 2010
Serbia 92 - Spain 89
Even with the defending champion Spain's second-half's surge, Serbia was able to hold on to the victory and advance to the next round. Milos Teodosic hit the game-winning three with 3.1 seconds left to sink Spain's chances at repeating at the world champions.
Ricky Rubio and the bench for the Spaniards did not offer much support as they totaled just 16 points on 5-of-18 shooting from the field in the contest. Juan Carloa Navarro did his best from the perimeter, tallying four 3s on his way to a game-high 27 points. Marc Gasol and Jorge Garbajosa proved to be trouble for the Serbian frontline, but even with 31 points between the two, Spain fell three points shy of their opponents. As a team, Spain came back to tie the game with 25 seconds left after being down eight just minutes earlier, but Serbia held for the last shot where Teodosic drained a long shot well beyond the 3-point arc.
Serbia had a balanced attack with six players in double-figures, led by Novica Velickovic and Marko Keselj each had 17 points. A steady dose of deep shots highlighted the offense, knocking down 15-of-30 shots from behind the arc where five players hit at least two shots. Nenad Kristic of the Oklahoma City Thunder battled inside to finished with 13 points and 9 rebounds.
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Turkey 95 - Slovenia 68
Ersan Ilyasova had game-highs of 19 points and 5 rebounds to lead Turkey over Slovenia in their quarterfinal victory, 95-68. Down 11-9 in the first quarter, Turkey ensued by going on a 22-5 run, using a barrage of three-point shots before the route was on. The Turks were able to rest most of their starters and nearly every player played between 16-20 minutes.
Bostjan Nachbar and Sani Becirovic each scored 16 points a piece for Slovenia.
Turkey will face Serbia in the semifinals on Saturday.
By Chris Andrews
