Serbia Hands Argentina First Defeat

ISTANBUL (2010 FIBA World Championship) - The United States, Turkey and Lithuania stormed into the Eight-Finals of the FIBA World Championship as the only undefeated sides while Serbia edged Argentina in a thriller to clinch first place in Group A.

On a dramatic last night of Preliminary Round play, the Serbians beat Argentina 84-82 in Kayseri to claim top spot and set up a clash with European rivals Croatia, who lost to Brazil in Group B on Thursday night.

Luis Scola poured in 32 points and became Argentina's all-time leading scorer in the process, while the hero for Serbia was Dusko Savanovic, who visited with FIBATV.Com after the game.

The Cajasol Sevilla star poured in a team-high 19 points and hit a key three-ball with 18 seconds remaining to snap a 77-77 tie and put Serbia in front to stay.

Serbia coach Dusko Ivanovic said: "We have been watching Argentina for 10 years trying to learn. Today, I think, we taught them something."

Sergio Hernandez, the Argentina coach, said: "Many people thought that we would lose this game intentionally to get one more day off to rest in Istanbul but I don’t care what they thought.”

Australia hammered Angola 76-55 to seal third spot in Group A and give them a meeting with Slovenia in the next round.

Pat Mills was the only Boomer to hit double figures against the Angolans with 11 points.

Angola's defeat has thrown them into a game against tournament favorites Team USA.

The United States started slow but finished fast on Thursday against Tunisia.

The Americans only led 39-33 at half-time but pulled away in the second half for a 92-57 victory to leave the African nation without a win.

"We need to be ready for Angola because in the next stage, if we don't win, we don't win it," USA coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

"It's kind of like the NCAA tournament."

Slovenia, who had already clinched second place with Tuesday's triumph over the Brazilians, defeated Iran 65-60.

Looking ahead to the meeting with the Boomers, Slovenia captain Jaka Lakovic said: "They are a very physical team and they have great players. It’s going to be a very difficult test for us."

Brazil built a 25-point lead against Croatia in the third quarter and kept the pressure on in the fourth before winning 92-74 to finish third in Group B.

Leandro Barbosa and Alex Garcia dominated through the first three quarters when they combined for 32 of Brazil's 72 points. Anderson Varejao, in just his second game back from an ankle injury, had just two points but 12 rebounds in the opening three frames.

In Group C, the result of the day belonged to Ivory Coast, who got their first win by upsetting Puerto Rico and knocking the team from the FIBA Americas out of the tournament in the process.

Puerto Rico’s David Huertas spoiled their night, however, by hitting a three-pointer at the buzzer to leave the Africans with an 88-79 victory - not large enough to get them into the next round.

That's because Ivory Coast, Puerto Rico and China each had one victory and the Chinese team's goal differential in their games was superior, thus leaving them in fourth place.

Ivory Coast coach Randoald Dessarzin said: “It’s difficult, but this is basketball. It’s the best job in the world.

“I will remember the last seconds for the rest of my life. We have to take the experience. It’s a pity.

“The players made the effort to beat one of the best basketball teams in the world with serious talent.

“It’s a new start for Ivory Coast, a new cycle starting next year with the African Championship.”

Greece had maybe their worst performance of the tournament against Russia and lost 73-69 and dropped to third place while leaving Russia second.

China, with their qualification secure, rested Yi Jianlian against Turkey on Thursday night and lost to the tournament hosts, 87-40.

One of the more remarkable games to be played was the last in Group D between France and New Zealand.

France had won their first two games of the tournament and looked primed for at least a top-two finish but after falling to Lithuania on Wednesday they collapsed against New Zealand, losing 82-70.

Spain, New Zealand and France all finished with 3-2 records but since the French had a worse goal differential in the meetings between the three sides, they plummeted to fourth place with the Spanish second and New Zealand third.

That meant that France will now have to go up against Turkey in the Eight-Finals, while Spain will face Greece and New Zealand will go up against Russia.

New Zealand had needed to not only win against France but to do so by 12 in order to finish third and avoid tournament hosts and red hot Turkey.

France appeared to be in the driving seat in the final 20 seconds but Nicolas Batum fouled Kirk Penney, just as the tournament’s leading scorer was making a shot from behind the arc.

Penney sank the free-throw for a four-point play.

After Yannick Bokolo sank two free-throws for France, Vincent Collet’s side allowed Thomas Abercrombie to bank in a three-pointer from the left to give New Zealand a 12-point advantage with six seconds remaining.

Batum tried to hit a three-ball at the buzzer but it rimmed out.

“We played very, very bad, right from the beginning," Collet said.

"We came back at the end of the first quarter, but the worst one was the second one.

“The attitude we had showed in the first four games, we didn’t have in the second quarter.

“Even though we came back, we were running behind them the whole game.

“We left the most difficult until the end, we wanted to lose by 11 or less to avoid Turkey, but even that we couldn’t do, by not doing the foul on the last possession. We got what we deserved."

Spain guard Juan Carlos Navarro sat out the game against Canada with an injury but his team won 89-67.

Lithuania also rolled to victory against Lebanon, 84-66, and will face China in the Eight-Finals.