Manila, September 3 (Xinhua) -- In the second phase of the 2023 Basketball World Cup group stage on the 3rd, the defending champion Spain lost to Canada by three points and missed the quarterfinals. In another high-profile match, Lithuania narrowly beat the United States, who had also made the cut, thanks to an overall double-double with seven scorers.
With Italy, Serbia, Latvia and Canada successfully qualifying on the same day, all eight finals of this World Cup have been decided.
In Group J, the United States and Lithuania, who won all of their places in the quarterfinals, played the group top spot. In the first quarter, Lithuania was on fire, scoring 31 points in a single quarter, while the United States scored only 12 points. Lithuania still led 54-37 at halftime.
Lithuania's shooting percentage dropped after the change, while the United States blossomed more, and the gap narrowed to six points by the end of the third quarter. In the final quarter, the United States repeatedly pressed the score but never went further, and finally Lithuania narrowly defeated the United States 110:104. In the other match of the group, Greece lost 69:73 to Montenegro.
In Group L, Spain lost 85:88 in a "life and death battle" against Canada. Canada then reached the quarter-finals at the top of the group, leaving defending champions Spain out.
In the other match, Latvia beat Brazil 104-84 to win another promotion spot. Latvian coach Luca Banch said after the game: "The players found the right way to play on the pitch and we had 24 assists but only six turnovers in this game, which shows how good we were. ”
In Group I, Italy beat Puerto Rico 73:57 to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in 25 years. "I told the players before the game that if you want to reach the quarter-finals, you have to show your desire to win on the pitch and they did fantastic in this World Cup. After the match, Italy coach Gianmarco Pozeko praised the team's performance.
In the other match in the same group, Serbia beat the Dominican team 112:79 to secure another place in the quarterfinals.
In Group K, Schroeder contributed a "double-double" of 24 points and 10 assists to help Germany win the group top spot with a 100-71 victory over Slovenia, who had also qualified. Australia beat Georgia 100-84 in the other match.
At this point, all the top eight seats have been decided. In the quarterfinals, Lithuania played Serbia, Italy against the United States, Germany against Latvia and Canada against Slovenia.
Image from FIBA's official website