Bogdan Bogdanovic shone as Serbia cruised to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 semifinals, delivering a harsh reality check to Lithuania with an 87-68 victory on Tuesday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Bogdanovic ignited early in the battle of European powerhouses, scoring 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting in the first half, leading the Serbians to a 49-38 advantage going into the third quarter.
The Atlanta Hawks swingman ultimately finished with 21 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals for the Eagles, who exceeded their previous fifth-place finish in the last edition where Argentina eliminated them in the quarterfinals.
What was anticipated as a closely contested matchup between Serbia and the Lithuanians, who had just secured a stunning 110-104 win over Team USA in the Round of 16, turned out to be one-sided, with the Serbians leading by as much as 25 points, 82-57, with 6:06 left in the game.
“First of all, congratulations to my team. It’s a great victory, an important one, and a great game for us, especially against a formidable team like Lithuania,” said Serbia head coach Svetislav Pesic.
“We must show respect to the Lithuanian team because they had an excellent tournament, not just because they won the last game against Team USA,” he added.
Serbia made 33 of its 60 field goal attempts, shooting an impressive 55 percent to dismantle Lithuania.
Filip Petrusev provided a spark off the bench, contributing 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting, along with six assists and two rebounds, while Stefan Jovic chipped in with 11 points and five boards.
On the other hand, the Lithuanians, who had won all five of their games before the knockout round, will miss the semifinals for the second consecutive time.
Tadas Sedekerskis led Lithuania with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Rokas Jokubaitis added 13 points and nine assists. Jonas Valanciunas was limited to just 11 points and four rebounds in the loss.
Serbia will face the winner of the Canada-Slovenia quarterfinals match in the semifinals on Friday, while Lithuania will enter the classification phase, where they will take on the loser of the same match-up on Thursday.
The Scores:
Serbia 87 – Bogdanovic 21, Petrusev 17, S. Jovic 11, Guduric 9, Milutinov 9, Avramovic 8, N. Jovic 8, Davidovac 2, Marinkovic 1, Ristic 1, Dobric 0.
Lithuania 68 – Sederskis 14, Jokubaitis 13, Valanciunas 11, Brazdeikis 11, Normantas 8, Kuzminskas 6, Dimsa 3, Motiejunas 2, Kariniauskas 0, Maldunas 0, Sirvydis 0.
Quarterscores: 24-25, 49-38, 73-55, 87-68
