Serbia punches FIBA World Cup QF ticket, boots out Dominican Republic

Bogdan Bogdanovic was just too much to handle as Serbia manhandled Dominican Republic in a 112-79 beating to advance to the 2023 FIBA World Cup quarterfinals on Sunday.

Bogdanovic went perfect from the field, drilling 7-of-7 of his shots to finish with 20 points, five assists, and three steals while Vanja Marinkovic and Nikola Milutinov churned out 16 markers apiece as they eliminated the Dominicans.

Between the three of them, they went 20-of-23 from the field to lead Serbia, which as a team finished 43-of-66 for a 65.2-percent shooting clip.

Serbia had a total of six players finish in double figures in scoring, including Filip Petrusev, Stefan Jovic, and Marko Guduric.

Karl-Anthony Towns paced the Dominican Republic as the Minnesota Timberwolves big man registered 25 points, seven rebounds, one steal, and one block.

Serbia outscored Dominican Republic, 29-15, in the first quarter and extended that lead to 21, 56-35, by the halftime break.

They had another dominant quarter in the third, where they pushed their lead up to a whopping 34 points, 87-53.

En route to the final phase, the Serbians swept the opening round after dominating China, Puerto Rico, and South Sudan in Group B.

They then fell to Italy, 78-76, in the first game of the second round, but got their act together against the Dominicans, who also swept Group A against the Philippines, Italy, and Angola.

Dominican Republic lost both of their second round games to finish 3-2.

The scores:

Serbia 112 - Bogdanovic 20, Marinkovic 16, Milutinov 16, Petrusev 14, S. Jovic 12, Guduric 10, Dobric 9, Avramovic 8, Ristic 4, Davidovac 3, N. Jovic 0.

Dominican Republic 79 - Towns 25, Montero 15, Mendoza 14, Quinones 11, Liz 7, Feliz 5, Solano 2, Delgado 0, Figueroa 0, Pena 0, Vargas 0.

Quarters: 29-15, 56-35, 87-53, 112-79.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News