EuroBasket 2013: Croatia, Lithuania move on to SFs
Croatian fans made the journey to Ljubljana in massive numbers to support their team and see them earn a spot in the 2014 FIBA World Cup.
The next round of the EuroBasket 2013 competition is now set as all four semifinalists have been determined and the match-ups scheduled. After Wednesday’s quarterfinals, the top half of the semifinal bracket was established with old rivals Spain and France set to hit the hardwood at Stozice Arena in Ljubljana, Slovenia in the second game of the night at 21:00 local time. On Thursday, the second half of the semifinal match-ups was determined when Croatia used a huge second quarter to stop Ukraine, 84:72, and Lithuania put together a 15:0 run to open the fourth quarter against Italy and earned their spot in the semis with an 81:77 victory. Three of the four clubs not only earned their rightful place in the final four, but they also punched their tickets to the FIBA 2014 World Cup, which will be held in Spain, who automatically qualify as the host nation.
Croatia – Ukraine, 84:72
With Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, being just a quick trip up the E70, it’s no surprise that the Croatia – Ukraine contest had to have felt like a home game for the Croatians. Nearly 8,000 packed the Stozice Arena, the majority of which were Croatians, to watch the first quarterfinal contest of the night. For their effort to get to the areana, the Croatian fans were treated to seeing their club earn a spot in the EuroBasket 2013 semifinals as well as qualifying for the 2014 World Cup with an 84:72 win over Ukraine.
Croatia shot an impressive 43.5% (10 of 23) from behind the arc, to counter the Ukrainian 23 of 38 (60.5%) shooting inside the stripe. Unfortunately for the Ukrainians, they fired up 22 long-balls and were only able to connect on three (13.6%). The Ukrainians were dominating on the glass though, out-rebounding Croatia 39-30, including 13 offensive rebounds. One key to the contest was turnovers, where the Croatians only gave up the ball nine times, compared to 17 for Ukraine.
The first quarter opened with the Ukrainians building a 12:5 lead by the midway point, only to then have Croatia run off nine unanswered to get the lead. They exchange baskets and the lead for the rest of the frame until a Pooh Jeter jumper knotted the score at 22 with 33 seconds to play, ending the scoring in the quarter.
The Croatians took over in the second quarter, going on a 13:0 scoring run that gave them a 10-point lead, 38:28, by the time Ukraine hit the cords again. Another six unanswered brought the run to 19:2, and gave Croatia a 46:32 lead with 2:10 to play in the half. Bojan Bogdanovic connected on a layup with six seconds left to give Croatia a 16-point lead, 51:35, as the teams headed into the break.
Krunoslav Simon dropped three of his game-high 23 10 seconds into the second half when he knocked down a triple to put Croatia up 19, 54:35. Through the heart of the third frame the Ukrainians went on a 13:4 run that sliced the lead to nine, 63:54. A Bogdanovic fast break off a Dario Saric defensive rebound and outlet for an assist, pushed Croatia’s lead to 13 with 42 seconds to play in the quarter, but Ukraine hit two layups off fast breaks of their own at the end of the quarter to cut the lead to nine, 70:61.
Croatia opened the scoring in the final stanza with another fast break layup from Bogdanovic off a steal, then Saric split the cords with a long-ball to put Croatia up 14, 75:61. From there out the Ukrainians would get no closer than eight, while Croatia hit six of eight from the line down the stretch, including four of six from Bogdanovic to close out the contest.
Simon led Croatia with 23 points, followed by Bogdanovic’s 14. Jeter led the Ukrainians with 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. Viacheslav Kravtsov added 15 points and Sergii Gladyr dropped in 13 points while hauling in 9 rebounds.
Lithuania – Italy, 81:77
It took a six minute stretch in the fourth quarter where the Italians couldn’t find the net while Lithuania ran off 15 unanswered, for the Lithuanians to take control and earn their spot in the semifinals and the 2014 World Cup.
Mantas Kalnietis and Renaldas Seibutis put up a pair of 17s for Lithuania, while Italy was led by Marco Belinelli’s game-high 22.
Lithuania got up 9:2 to start the contest and built a lead as high as 10, 22:12, before Alessandro Gentile dropped a three-ball with a minute to play in the frame to cut the margin to 7.
The difference between the clubs stayed between five and 10 for the bulk of the second 10, until Italy went on a 7:2 run in the final minute to cut the lead to a point, 40:39, as they broke for the mid-game intermission.
The Italians took the lead for the first time in the contest on a Luigi Latome jumper less than a minute into the new half. Lithuania took it back 18 seconds later and went on a 10:3 run to get up by six, 50:44, with 6:22 to play in the third 10. Italy countered with nine unanswered to take a 53:50 lead and closed out the quarter with a one point advantage after Belinelli threw down a dunk with 17 seconds left to put Italy on the high side of a 58:57 tally.
The start of the fourth was the Italians undoing, missing jumpers, layups and throwing the ball away, all while Lithuania was taking the ball inside, scoring the majority of their 15-point run on layups. The Lithuanians weren’t immune to the turnover bug though, as they also gave up the ball on numerous occasions, the only difference was that Italy couldn’t capitalize on the mistakes. By the time Italy put more points on the board after the fourth quarter had started, Lithuania was up 14, 72:58, with four minutes to play. A 12-point disadvantage wasn’t enough to hold Italy down, as they ran off six straight to cut the lead to eight and with 45 seconds got a trio of singles from Gentile after getting fouled on a three-pointer attempt. Pietro Aradori had a rough final 30 seconds, getting whistled for a carry, which then resulted in a pair of Lithuanian free throws to push the lead to eight and then he missed a layup with 17 seconds to play that would have cut the deficit to four, also resulting in a pair of free throws that basically put the game away. Belinelli knocked down a triple for Italy at the buzzer that cut the gap to four, further fueling the debate on whether those final miscues were enough to cost the Italians the contest.
Lithuania will play Croatia at 17:45 local time on Friday.