DAY 5: US-HEY!
- Updated: September 1, 2010
The USA continued its unbeaten roll with an 88-51 victory over Iran on Day 5 of the World Championships in Turkey.
It clinched first place in Group B for the Americans.
Iran briefly led in the contest at 5-3 following a three-pointer from point guard and captain Mahdi Kamrany but Mike Krzyzewski’s side recovered easily, paced by 13 from Kevin Love. In the same pool Slovenia were pushed to the wire before edging Brazil 80-77 while Croatia hammered Tunisia 84-64.
Spain – led by Marc Gasol’s 25 points and 8 rebounds -broke their losing streak to thrash Libya 91-57, booking a spot in the second round and keeping their hopes alive of avoiding the USA in the quarter-finals. But a 33-12 run from unbeaten Lithuania propelled them to a 69-55 win over France that wrapped up first place in Group D. Canada’s misery continued when they lost 71-61 to New Zealand.
In Group A, Argentina had to play harder than expected to beat Jordan 88-79 with Luis Scola hitting 30 points and 13 rebounds. Angola beat Germany 92-88 while Serbia finally had their roster complete and held on to beat Australia 94-79. The return of Nenad Kristic after suspension gave his team extra options but it was Milos Teodosic who hit a team-best 19 points for the 2009 Eurobasket runners-up who were just one points ahead in the fourth quarter before a 13-1 closing run sealed victory.
“It was a tough game,” said Serb coach Dusan Ivkovic. “This was the second hardest game after the one against Germany. It was an interesting game for us because we had the chance to try 35 3-points-shoot while only 31 2-point-shot. This means that we took some risk and won the game.”
Hosts Turkey secured top spot in their group C by out-lasting Puerto Rico 79077 in Ankara, Russia overcame China 89-80 and Greece pummelled Ivory Coast 97-60.
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