MANILA, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) — Canada, Latvia, Germany, the Dominican Republic, Montenegro, and Lithuania all secured their second consecutive victories in their respective groups at the FIBA World Cup on Sunday.
RJ Barrett led nine Canadian players who scored in double digits with 17 points in 20 minutes, helping Canada dominate Lebanon 128-73 in Jakarta, Indonesia. This win marked Canada’s second straight victory in Group H.
The head coach of Canada, Jordi Fernandez, attributed their significant victory to the players’ selfless style of play, resulting in a total of 44 assists. “We played together and shared the basketball. 44 assists to 15 turnovers is a record in the World Cup. It just shows that sharing is caring and these guys were ready to play the right way, play with a pass,” said Fernandez. He expressed pride in the team for executing the game plan correctly, as there is often a tendency to rely on individual performances in such games.
In another Group H match, Latvia secured their place in the second round by defeating France 88-86, adding to their previous win. As a result, France was relegated to the 17th-32nd classifications after suffering two consecutive losses.
Germany managed to edge out Australia 85-82 in Okinawa, Japan, securing their second victory in Group E. Dennis Schroder’s outstanding performance of 30 points, eight assists, and four steals, along with Maodo Lo’s contribution of 20 points off the bench, played a crucial role in Germany’s win. In the final seconds of the game, Schroder’s layup granted Germany an 83-81 lead, and Lo’s layup with two seconds left sealed the victory.
Japan caused an upset by defeating Finland 98-88 in the other Group E match, earning their first victory in two games. Meanwhile, Finland suffered their second consecutive loss. Germany has already secured a spot in the top 16, and Australia and Japan will compete for the remaining ticket to the second round from Group E.
In Manila, the Dominican Republic relied on their accurate three-point shooting, making 16 shots from beyond the arc, to secure an 87-82 triumph over Italy in Group A. Karl-Anthony Towns and Andres Feliz both contributed 24 points to lead the Dominicans to victory. Towns expressed his happiness for his team’s achievement: “I’m super happy for us. It was amazing. I mean it’s huge. We came in and won. Our country has been yearning for these moments, and I’m glad we’re able to give it,” said Towns. Marco Spissu scored 17 points for Italy; however, their shooting performance was poor, making only 7 out of 29 attempts, resulting in a 1-1 win-loss record for the team.
Angola defeated the Philippines 80-70 in Group A, improving their record to 1-1, while the Philippines is still searching for their first win.
In the other games on Sunday, Montenegro easily defeated Egypt 89-74, and Lithuania outscored Mexico 96-66 in Group D. Both Montenegro and Lithuania have secured their places in the round of 16, and they will compete for the top spot in the group in their next match on Tuesday.
Currently, 32 teams are participating in the round-robin preliminaries across eight groups. The top two finishers from each group will advance to the second round, while the rest will compete in the 17th-32nd deciders.
Credit: The Star : News Feed
