Home FIBA EuroBasket 2013 EuroBasket – 2nd round, day 4

EuroBasket – 2nd round, day 4

Day four of Eurobasket action and the focus switches back to Group E where the quarter-final line-up begins to take shape.

Croatia 76-68 Italy

Croatia qualified for the Eurobasket quarter-finals with a come-from-behind 76-68 win over Italy in the first game of the day.

Trailing 36-31 at the half, Italy enjoyed better spells in the game than their opponents until a third quarter barrage from the Croatians blew the game wide open with a 10-0 run in the early stages of the first period, leading to a 26-9 ten minute quarter and they didn’t look back from there.

Bojan Bogdanovic led the winners with 18 points, 11 of those coming in the third quarter of play.

Luigi Datome had 24 points for Italy; the only player to hit double-digit scoring for his side.

Spain 82-56 Finland

Spain are now on the verge of the quarter-finals after defeating a tired Finland side 82-56 in game two.

The defending Eurobasket champions pulled away in the second quarter after a closely-fought first period. Jose Calderon led all scorers with 23 points, 10 of them coming in the fourth quarter.

Finland are still not eliminated from the group but face an uphill struggle to advance, needing a win in their final game against the hosts Slovenia and for other games to go their way in order to be in the last eight.

Petteri Koponen had 17 to lead the Finns.

Greece 65-73 Slovenia

Slovenia eliminated Greece and also put Croatia and Italy through thanks to a 73-65 win at a packed Stozice Arena.

Leading 62-47 after three quarters, it looked a done deal for the hosts – but Greece – led by Vassilis Spanoulis’ 21 points were not going quietly, and gave Slovenia a nervy last few minutes, as they pulled the gap to single-digits.

Goran Dragic though provided the spark that the hosts needed when it mattered. His steal and then bucket in transition was a dagger for Greece as Dragic’s 28 points were enough for victory.

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