By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
After losing by 59 points to Team USA, Finland reacted and got the 81-76 win over Ukraine, the first ever in a World Cup. Shawn Huff with 23 points led the charge in a game of runs. However the Finns had a 75-58 advantage with four minutes left on the clock and that lead was proven enough, even if the losing side with Pooh Jeter scoring 24 points and dishing 9 assists tried to mount an impossible come back. Ukrainian guard Sergiy Gladyr sprained his ankle and he may miss some more games.
Despite a valiant third quarter effort by New Zealand, Dominican Republic got the 76-63 win and made their first step towards the second round of the FIBA World Cup. The partial score of the last quarter was 25-13 in favor of the winners. Francisco Garcia with 29 points was a true leader and a very efficient scorer with 11/15 shots. The duo of Abercrombie (22 p.) and Penney (16 p.) tried their best but they couldn’t get their first win in the tournament despite a mean haka dance (photo) before the tip off.
Ιn the last match of the day, until the 27th minute the score was tied at 59 and Turkey had given a real game to Team USA. Still it was far from enough. In the remaining time, the partial score was 39-18 in favor of coach K’s unit as the Americans got the 98-77 win. Still Turkey proved that they may not be unbeaten, if you take into account what happened at the first three quarters. Kenneth Faried proved his importance to this version of Team USA, not only with his energy but also with 22 points and 8 rebounds. After this game USA is the only unbeaten team in the group (2-0), Turkey, Ukraine, Dominican Republic and Finland are tied at 1-1 and New Zealand is left at 0-2.