By Rigas Dardalis/ Dardalis@eurohoops.net
Belgium (0-3) tried its best to upset Serbia (3-0), started the game with a 8-0 run, but in the end the favorite prevailed (76-69). The team of coach Duda Ivkovic got the win, despite the fact that their opponent never gave up. The Serbian “Eagles” never got a double digit lead, however Nenad Krstic was for one more game a beast in the paint with 17 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists.
Wen Mukubu (16 p.) and Sam Van Rossom (14 p.) did cut the lead of Serbia to two point with 2,5 minutes left (65-63), but Stefan Markovic (photo) answered with a three pointer and two free throws (70-63). Belgium tried to stay close, a bucket by Jonathan Tabu gave new hopes to his team (70-67). The last word belonged to Bogdan Bogdanovic who gave a six point lead to Serbia with one minute left (73-67) with a three point shot that virtually decided the outcome.
As Belgium coach Eddy Casteels said: “It was a well deserved win. For us, it’s important that we made a statement why we are in the second Round. I’m happy to look at the scores from the four quarters and see that we were able to match the scores for 40 minutes”.