The NBA duo of Kristaps Porzingis and Davis Bertans dominated Great Britain and Adam Hanga put in arguably the performance of the tournament to highlight day five of Eurobasket.
Croatia and Spain end the way unbeaten in Group C while Russia are bossing Group D as we enter the midway point of the tournament.
Group C
Hungary defeated Czech Republic 85-73 in the first game of the day in Cluj-Napoca.
It was a history-making win for the Hungarians, who had not tasted victory at this tournament since 1969. Barcelona new boy Adam Hanga exploded for 31 points.
Despite a valiant comeback from Montenegro, they ultimately fell to Croatia 76-72.
Tyrese Rice went for 22 points as he led the Montenegrin charge, but he was upstaged by 23 points by Bojan Bogdanovic, as the Croatians remain unbeaten at 3-0.
Spain also climbed to 3-0 in the pool after easing past hosts Romania 91-50 in the final game of the night in Cluj-Napoca.
The holders rested Pau Gasol and Alex Abrines plus they rotated frequently against the weakest team in the tournament as Juancho Hernangomez posted 18 points in victory.
Group D
Latvia were less than convincing but ultimately improved to 2-1 in Group D with a nervous 97-92 win over Great Britain in Istanbul.
At one point in the third quarter, Latvia enjoyed a 29-point lead and effortlessly found ways to score at GB’s expense. The Brits though never gave up and slowly brought the deficit back and with over a minute left brought it to single-digits. It was too little, too late though.
Kristaps Porzingis dazzled with 28 points to lead Latvia who are now 2-1 while Gabe Olaseni’s stellar 23-point, 10-rebound double-double wasn’t enough.
Russia remained undefeated in Group D by recording a 76-67 win over Belgium in game number two in Istanbul.
Alexei Shved staked his claim as an early candidate for tournament MVP as he led the Russians with 20 points, six rebounds and six assists as they have put one foot into the second round.
Serbia withstood the hostile home crowd and overcame Turkey 80-74 in the final game of the night in Istanbul.
Bogdan Bogdanovic paced the Serbian attack with 17 points in a fiercely intense contest.
