FIBA World Cup 2014 Round of 16 Day 1

FIBA World Cup 2014The Round of 16 at the FIBA World Cup 2014 has started and over the next two days the teams left in the draw will battle it out to reach the quarter-finals. There were four games on Saturday that delivered tension and on court action in spades, setting a tone for Sunday when a further four games will take place.

Here’s the rundown on what happened on Saturday.

USA vs. Mexico
As these countries share a border and a love/hate relationship, this is one of the spiciest Basketball matches in international hoops. However, while these two nations are close on the map, they occupy different spaces in terms of quality, with the US of course the team to beat again this year. As they clashed on the court in the FIBA World Cup 2014 tonight it was the US contingent who progressed with an 86-63 win, although the Mexicans went down with pride.

The USA made the first ten minutes count, controlling its defensive perimeter and picking off buckets to lead 23-13 at the first break. Stephen Curry was pacing the team, and even though Mexico improved in the second stanza, team USA extended its advantage to 42-27 at halftime. It was clear that the Mexicans were now playing for pride, trailing 15 points after 20 minutes to arguably the best roster at the tournament. The USA pressed home their advantage with a game confirming third quarter, taking the frame 24-11 to lead 66-38 as the fourth quarter loomed. Mexico put together its best period to win the fourth 20-25, but the damage had already been done and the USA progressed to the quarter-final stage.

Curry paced the US attack with 20 points, while he also set up four buckets for his teammates. James Harden claimed 12 points in the win, while Kenneth Faried continued his strong tournament with 11 points and 8 rebounds.

Gustavo Ayon kept Mexico in the game at times, scoring a game high 25 points through the contest and claiming 8 boards, 6 at the offensive end.

Dominican Republic vs. Slovenia
Slovenia bounced back from losing its final group game to Lithuania, defeating the Dominican Republic 61-71 to book safe passage to the next phase of the FIBA World Cup 2014. The game in Barcelona started cagey but opened up in the second quarter as the teams traded frames in an exciting contest.

Q1 opened slowly as both teams found their feet on the hardwood, not committing fully to attacking Basketball. The score line at the first buzzer reflected that as the players had traded baskets through the period to tie 15 apiece. The game opened up in the second stanza as Slovenia found more space from the middle and piled in 23 points to lead 28-38 at the long break. The European team could not maintain its dominance in the third quarter as the Dominican Republic improved to win the stint 20-16. After 30 minutes on the floor the scoreboard was tight, reading 48-54 with 10 minutes to play. Slovenia held firm through the last quarter and extended its lead to 10 points to make things a little more comfortable down the straight.

The Dragic brothers stood out for Slovenia again, with Zoran taking 18 points and Goran accounting for 12 points and 6 boards.

James Feldeine gave the Dominican Republic a foundation with 18 points of his own.

France vs. Croatia
A very tight game between European nations France and Croatia saw the French emerge victorious with a 69-64 victory. The current Eurobasket champions continue to progress through the tournament, but there is a feeling that the team is still not at its best. Croatia certainly provided a stern test in Madrid and will rue a poor run through the middle quarters as the reason they crash out.

Les Bleus opened the game in less than spectacular fashion, plodding through the first quarter, spraying shots and looking leaky in D. Croatia looked much more consistent and it was no surprise to see them lead 7-15 as the first quarter ended. The French improved in the second quarter in offense, finding a strong rhythm in the paint, although Croatia takes the fault for only scoring 7 points with some dodgy attacking play. At the midway split the (admittedly low) score read 23-22 to France, but it was anybody’s game. In the third frame Les Bleus continued to build their attacking confidence and streamed in 23 points during the stanza, holding the Croats to 12 (46-34). The third phase proved decisive as Croatia looked hot in Q4 to win the quarter 23-30, but it was not enough to find a path to the next round.

France had four players scoring in double digits, Nicolas Batum with 14 points, Mickael Gelabale with 11 points, Thomas Huertal with 10 points, and from the bench Evan Fournier with 13 points.

Croatia’s stars came good despite the loss, with Bojan Bogdanovic scoring a game high 27 points and Ante Tomic securing 17 points.

Spain vs. Senegal
Tournament hosts Spain crushed Senegal 89-56 in Madrid to head to the next round of the FIBA World Cup 2014. The result is hardly a surprise as Spain were hot favourites, and the Spanish won every quarter to ease through the game and past a Senegal team that leaves the competition with plenty of pride intact.

The Senegalese gave a good account of themselves during the first exchanges, sticking with their hosts for much of the first quarter. However, as the first rest landed, the Spanish had carved out a 23-17 lead and were heading for cruise control. Indeed, Spain hardly switched gears during the second quarter, tightening the game to win the quarter 18-11 to lead 41-28 at the long break. Senegal never stopped looking consistent, but Spain simply had more gears to move into and it was the home team who won the third quarter 21-15 and the fourth 27-13 to progress to the quarter-finals.

Pau Gasol continued his bid for player of the tournament by securing 17 points and 5 rebounds in the winning effort. He was followed Serge Ibaka, Jose Manuel Calderon, and Feilipe Reyes all with 11 points from the bench.

Gorgui Dieng has been the go to guy for Senegal in this tournament, securing averages of 18.0 points and 11.4 rebounds per game. However, Spain shut him down to only 6 points and 7 rebounds, paving the way for an easy win.

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