By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Luka Doncic and the Slovenian national team are making the most out of their time in Kaunas. While both Poland and Angola aren’t considered traditional powers in the basketball world, combining a total of 230 points in just two days is impressive.
Doncic stepped up for Aleksandar Sekulic’s selection with a double-double of 18 points, 10 assists along with 6 rebounds in 21 minutes in a 112-77 win over Poland, before heading to the bench as Slovenia held on to a large margin by the middle of the third period.
Sharpshooter Klemen Prepelic took charge in the second half to finish the game with 17 points, 4 assists and Gregor Hrovat had 16 points, as Sekulic kept shuffling his rotation, taking advantage of the large deficit.
On the other end of the court, Mateusz Ponitka had 16 points to lead Poland, which will play against Lithuania in the semifinals.
Slovenia has topped Group B of the Kaunas tournament and has already advanced to the semifinals, where they will face Venezuela.
In Belgrade, Italy outlasted Puerto Rico 90-83 in the only clash of Group B (given that Senegal couldn’t make it to the tournament). Achille Polonara led the way for Meo Sacchetti’s squad with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Nicolo Mannion and Simone Fontecchio had 21 points as well. Italy wins Group B and will face the team that finishes second in Group A, while Puerto Rico will take on the winner of Group A.
Lithuania got away with a 96-57 blowout win against South Korea to top their respective group in Kaunas, paced behind a double-double performance by Jonas Valanciunas. Korea goes out with its second loss, despite a game-high by Guna RA, who had 26 points.
Tunisia pulled back from a 14-point halftime deficit but didn’t manage to cause an upset to Croatia, which has advanced to the semifinals in Split with a 75-70 win. Mario Hezonja poured 27 points for the hosts, while Ante Zizic and Bojan Bogdanovic both added 14 points.
Daily results:
Kaunas
Slovenia – Poland 112-77 (Doncic 18 pts 10 ast, Prepelic 17 pts – Ponitka 16 pts)
South Korea – Lithuania 57-96 (Ra 26 pts, 8 rebs – Valanciunas 15 pts, 13 rebs)
Semifinals:
Lithuania vs Poland
Slovenia vs Venezuela
Belgrade
Italy – Puerto Rico 90-83 (Polonara, Mannion, Fontecchio 21 pts – Clavell 24 pts, Brown 16 pts, 16 rebs)
Philippines – Dominican Republic 67-94 (Heading 16 pts – Liz 23 pts, Solano 21 pts)
Semifinals:
Serbia – Puerto Rico
Italy – Dominican Republic
Split
Russia – Germany 67-69 (Vorontsevich 17 pts – Voigtmann 13 pts 7 rebs)
Croatia – Tunisia 75-70 (Hezonja 28 pts – Marnaoui 14 pts)
Semifinals:
Germany – Croatia
Brazil – Mexico
Victoria
China – Greece 80-105 (Hu 16 – Larentzakis 21)
Czech Republic – Uruguay 80-79 (Satoransky 19 – Granger 22/7/7)
Semifinals:
Turkey – Greece
Canada – Czech Republic
Photo: FIBA