Serbia asserted its might and completed a sweep of Group B following a 115-83 victory over South Sudan in the FIBA Basketball World Cup on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Nikola Jovic delivered a perfect game, scoring 25 points on a flawless 9-of-9 shooting from the field to help the Serbians end the Sudanese’s magical run in this prestigious 32-nation tourney.
With the win, the Serbians will advance to the second round with Group A qualifiers the Dominican Republic and Italy while South Sudan will be relegated to the classification phase with Gilas Pilipinas and Angola.
The classification cast, however, has yet to be completed as winless China and Puerto Rico are still clashing at press time.
Aside from Jovic, a deadly gunner for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association, the Serbians also banked on Bogdan Bogdanovic of Atlanta Hawks, who flirted with a double-double after firing 25 points and nine rebounds.
All in all, the Serbians drained 17-of-32 three-pointers for 53 percent while exploiting South Sudan’s 13 turnovers with 23 points.
Serbia also imposed its will inside the shaded area by sinking 46 points from the paint.
Bogdanovic admitted that the World Cup debutants gave them a hard time with their physicality, a tactic that worked well when they plucked their first-ever World Cup win over China, 89-69.
“It was a very physically demanding game for us. South Sudan is the toughest team we played in the group and we are just happy and proud that we won,” Bogdanovic said.
“We showed character at the end and for us, we are happy with the result right now but the tournament is just starting for us.”
