Serbia responded to their initial loss at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 with an impressive performance, soundly defeating the Dominican Republic 112-79 to secure a spot in the Quarter-Finals.
Leading Serbia’s charge was Bogdan Bogdanovic, who scored 20 points, a significant improvement from his previous struggles against Italy.
This victory marked Serbia’s fourth consecutive entry into the top eight at the World Cup. Furthermore, Serbia extended their undefeated record against the Dominican Republic to 2-0, with their previous win occurring during the 2020 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade.
Serbia wasted no time in establishing their dominance, embarking on a 16-2 run in the first quarter to build a commanding 26-9 lead.
They further solidified their advantage with nine consecutive points early in the second quarter, pushing the lead to 20 points. After that, the Dominican Republic failed to mount a comeback.
“This is some of the most fun basketball I have ever played,” Dominican Republic forward Karl-Anthony Towns said. “I had some of the most joy playing with these guys. I know coming here the world just expected us to fall flat on our face and not be a contender and not win games and just be games that are easy ones for people. But we didn’t do that at all.
“We heard the talk and I hope we made our country proud with the way we were able to compete, the way that we fought. And the biggest thing is the way we made the country believe.”
Watch the game highlights between the Dominican Republic and Serbia in the First Round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023:
