By Nikos Varlas / varlas@eurohoops.net
With an unstoppable Miroslav Raduljica (27 points on 11/12 shooting), Serbia beat Finland 94-81, after an impressive fourth-quarter performance, and qualified to the quarter-finals, where they will face the Czech Republic on Wednesday.
For Serbia, Nemanja Bjelica was also dominant, making a double-double, with 19 points and 14 rebounds, while Milos Teodosic added eight points and nine assists. For the Finns, who played very well for 30 minutes, Sasu Salin had 26 points, while Erik Murphy scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
It was a close derby in the first three quarters (23-24, 48-43, 71-64), as Finland played decent basketball and managed to remain competitive, but an 18-6 run in the beginning of the last quarter gave the Serbians a 19-point lead (89-70) and, consequently, the victory and the qualification to the next round.