FIBA World Championship Day 3

On the third day of the 16^th FIBA World Championship, team USA escaped from the jaws of defeat by getting past South American powerhouse, Brazil. In other games, reigning Asian champions Iran notched their first win of the tournament by beating African qualifiers Tunisia. Slovenia meanwhile made several gutsy plays to survive Croatia. All these and more in today’s FIBA World Championship recap.

Serbia crushes Jordan

European qualifiers Serbia didn’t waste much time as they routed Jordan, 112-69, to open the hostilities in Group A. With the return of hotshot guard Milos Teodosic, the Serbians simply had too much firepower against the undermanned Jordanians.

Teodosic sizzled early in the first quarter as Serbia pulled away early to take a 19-7 lead. At the end of the first canto, Serbia was already up, 33-20.

Jordan never mounted any serious comebacks. In the second quarter, Serbia started pounding the ball inside to Marko Keselj while freeing up shooters Kosta Perovic and Nemanja Bjelica.

Dusko Savanovic and Keselj led Serbia by chipping in 21 points apiece. Perovic meanwhile had 20, while Teodosic had an all-around game by scoring seven points and dishing out seven assists.

Serbia notched their second win while Jordan remains winless.

Australia destroys Germany

After struggling offensively in their first two games, Australia finally found their mark to outclass Germany, 78-43.

With their near loss against Jordan two days ago, the Australians made sure that this game was in the bag by building an early 12-2 lead in the first quarter. The Australians’ physical defense made it difficult for the Germans to score. At the end of the first quarter, Australia was already holding a 12-point cushion, 19-7.

Australia continued pounding the visibly exhausted Germans in the second quarter. Point guard Patrick Mills ran circles against Germany’s defense en route to a 10-point second-quarter explosion.

At the end of the first half, the number one team from Oceania had erected a 38-20 lead over Germany.

The third quarter wasn’t much different as Australia continued to abuse Germany. At the end of 30 minutes, Australia was already up 62-31. Mills led the team by finishing with 16 points while scattering seven assists. Aleksandar Maric meanwhile had 15 points in 24 minutes of action.

Argentina stays unbeaten, downs Angola

Luis Scola continued his dazzling performance in the FIBA World Championship by leading Argentina over Angola, 91-70.

The win is Argentina’s third straight while Angola remains winless in the entire tournament. Argentina managed to pull off this victory in spite of the absence of starting center Fabricio Oberto.

The 6’9 Scola, who plays for the NBA’s Houston Rockets, contributed a total of 32 points, 17 of them coming from first quarter.

Angola tried to come back, but Argentina got solid contributions from veteran players Paolo Quintero and Roman Gonzalez, who scored seven and four points, respectively.

Angola cut the lead down to three in the third quarter when Argentina stopped their shackling defense. At the start of the final quarter though, the Argentines unleashed a 16-0 blast courtesy of Carlos Delfino, Leo Gutierrez, and Scola.

Slovenia ekes past gritty Croatia

One of the most exciting games happened when European powerhouse Slovenia faced a young but determined Croatian squad in Group B.

Croatia threw everything but the kitchen sink against Slovenia, but the more experienced Green Machine squad pulled off a close, 91-84 win.

For Slovenia, main man Bostjan Nachbar had six points, Goran Dragic five, and Gasper Vidmar four in the third quarter to put Slovenia ahead, 65-59.

Nachbar hit a tough running jumper, but Croatia sizzled beyond the arc when Marko Popovic and Roko Ukic nailed three-pointers to give the lead back to Croatia, 68-67.

Then again, Primo Brezec and Miha Zupan took charge to spark an 11-0 blast. From that point, the Croatians never recovered, sealing the deal for Slovenia.

Slovenia notched their second win in three outings, while Croatia fell to 1-2.

Iran gets first win by beating Tunisia

In Group B action, reigning Asian champions Iran finally nailed their first victory by beating African qualifiers Tunisia, 71-58.

Iran was already coasting in the third quarter by having a huge 24-point cushion. Then again, the Tunisians had other plans as they mounted a furious rally to cut the lead down to four, 56-52.

The Iranians, however, hung on to secure their first win after two straight losses. For Iran, center Hamed Haddadi contributed 23 points, 11 of those coming from the second quarter when his team built a 31-15 bubble.

In the third quarter though, Tunisia’s stifling defense prevented Iran from scoring for over nine minutes. Fortunately, forward Arsalan Kazemi exploded for eight points in the last four minutes to finally secure the victory.

USA survives Brazil

The United States survived their toughest test thus far by edging out powerhouse Brazil, 70-68. Leandro Barbosa had the chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but the ball rolled off the rim.

Perhaps the closest game between the two countries in 23 years, thousands of fans flocked the arena to watch two undefeated teams play against one another.

In spite of struggling against Iran and Tunisia, Brazil came to play by using excellent passing, superb pick-and-rolls, and outstanding give-and-go plays.

Marcus Vinicius and Barbosa were cold-blooded from the outside. Meanwhile, center Tiago Splitter, who will be playing for the San Antonio Spurs this coming NBA season, recorded a double-double by scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds on top of three assists.

With 33 ticks left in the game, the Americans were holding a slim four-point lead, 70-66. Barbosa drove into the lane to make it a one-possession ballgame.

Chauncey Billups fired a three-ball on the other end but missed. Alex Garcia grabbed the rebound and passed it to an open Marcelo Huertas who was fouled by Kevin Durant.

Huertas then missed the first free throw, before intentionally missing the second to give his team a chance to tie the game.

Huertas chased the ball down and passed it to an open Barbosa who muffed the jump shot.

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