Eurobasket 2017 now enters the knockout phase as the round of 16 gets underway in Istanbul. Saturday features four games with another four encounters on Sunday.
SLOVENIA MAKE LIGHT WORK OF UKRAINE
Slovenia breezed past Ukraine 79-55 in the opening round of 16 clash in Istanbul.
Despite the pluckiness that Ukraine have displayed during their stint at Eurobasket, they were overpowered from the first quarter onwards as unbeaten Slovenia ran riot in the first quarter, leading 26-17 and never looking back.
Anthony Randolph led Slovenia with 21 points and Luka Doncic added a solid stat line of 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Goran Dragic was held to just five points.
GERMANY UPSET 2013 CHAMPIONS FRANCE
Germany edged France 84-81 in the first upset of the second round as the French miss out on a podium finish for the first time since 2011 and fail to reach the last eight for the first time since 1997.
Daniel Theis led Germany with 22 points and seven rebounds as the Germans found other weapons aside from Dennis Schroder who added 21 points but 11 of those came from the foul line.
In a closely fought contest, Robin Benzing eventually iced the game from the foul line with six seconds left. Nando De Colo had a chance to take the game to overtime but his three missed it mark.
ITALY COAST PAST WOEFUL FINNS
Italy eased past Finland 70-57 as the Azzuri got hot from beyond the arc early and never looked back.
The Italians went 7/13 from three-point land in the first half and were never really troubled as Finland never really got into the contest.
Marco Bellinelli led Italy with 22 points.
GREECE SEND LITHUANIA PACKING
Greece eliminated Lithuania with a deserved 77-64 win in the final game of the first day of second round action.
The Greeks, who were slight underdogs going in, raced to an early 25-17 lead after the first quarter and even though the Lithuanians threatened, Greece – led by 21 points from Kostas Sloukas – held on.
Mindaugas Kuzminskas had 20 for Lithuania, who suffer their worst Eurobasket finish since 2009.
