Serbia barges into FIBA World Cup semis with rout of streaking Lithuania

In a battle of European teams, powerhouse Serbia prevailed as it eliminated erstwhile undefeated Lithuania, 87-68, to punch a ticket to the 2023 FIBA World Cup semifinals on Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Bogdan Bogdanovic, as he has in all but one of Serbia's previous games, led the way again with 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting percentage alongside four rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

Filip Petrusev added 17 markers along with six boards and two dimes.

Tadas Sedekerskis, meanwhile, paced Lithuania with 14 points, nine rebounds, and two assists while Jonas Valanciunas chipped in 11 markers and four boards in the loss.

The Serbians, who finished fifth in the previous World Cup edition in 2019, now await the result of the other quarterfinals game between Slovenia and Canada to determine its final four opponent.

Coming off a big upset win against the USA the other day, Lithuania did their best in the first half to keep within striking distance of Serbia, even leading by one, 25-24, in the first quarter.

They fell behind by 11 at the half, 49-38, as Bogdanovic continued to lead the way for Serbia.

Lithuania had an impressive third quarter start with a quick 5-0 run to close the gap to six, 49-43, before a 24-12 closing run in the frame saw Serbia enjoying a 73-55 advantage.

Serbia once again flaunted its depth with Stefan Jovic burying two triples and Nikola Jovic serving up a slam for a 62-48 cushion. That lead even went up to 25 after back-to-back triples from Petrusev halfway through the fourth, 82-57.

Serbia never looked back since then en route to another lopsided victory.

Previously, Serbia cruised to a 112-79 win against Dominican Republic in the conclusion of their second round campaign.

Lithuania, on the other hand, has been booted out despite a clean run in the first and second rounds which it ended with a 5-0 win-loss card. Their campaign included an upset of tournament favorite USA in their second round meeting.

In their win over the US, they shot 52.8-percent from the field and 56-percent from three-point range for a whopping 110 points. It was a different story in this one as they struggled for just 42.9-percent field goal shooting and 32.1-percent from beyond the arc.

Lithuania will still play in the classification phase.

The scores:

Serbia 87 - Bogdanovic 21, Petrusev 17, S. Jovic 11, Guduric 9, Milutinov 9, Avramovic 8, N. Jovic 8, Davidovac 2, Marinkovic 1, Ristic 1, Dobric 0.

Lithuania 68 - Sedekerskis 14, Jokubaitis 13, Brazdeikis 11, Valanciunas 11, Normantas 8, Kuzminskas 6, Dimsa 3, Motiejunas 2, Kariniauskas 0, Maldunas 0, Sirvydis 0.

Quarters: 24-25, 49-38, 73-55, 87-68.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News