Latvia denies Fontecchio-less Italy, marches to battle for fifth

Latvia turned things around early to eke out a victory against undermanned Italy, 87-82, and advance to the battle for fifth place in the 2023 FIBA World Cup on Thursday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Latvia awaits the winner between Slovenia and Lithuania to determine its next opponent in the classification round while Italy will be relegated to the battle for 7th. 

Italy wasted what was once a 13-point lead as Latvia closed the gap and even built a seven-point cushion before the fourth, 67-60, before veteran Italian forward Luigi Datome sank a triple for a 79-75 deficit.

Another huge triple from Italy's Marco Spissu sent Italy made it a two-point deficit, 84-82, with 41 seconds left. But Andrejs Grazulis capped off a big night for himself with a three-pointer of his own for an 87-82 lead.

Grazulis finished with 28 points on near-perfect 12-of-13 shooting from the field alongside six rebounds and one steal while Aigars Skele chipped in 12 markers and nine dimes.

Italy, who was missing star Simone Fontecchio, was paced by Datome who poured in 20 points.

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA Integrated News