CRO/TUN – Croatia get on top of Tunisia early and cruise
ISTANBUL (2010 FIBA World Championship) - With Marko Popovic popping three-pointers and Tunisia out of sync, Croatia took command early on and rolled to an 84-64 victory over Tunisia in Group B. After Tunisia scored eight points in a row to cut Croatia's lead to 10-8, Popovic got hot. The veteran shooting guard drilled three of his four attempts from ...
ISTANBUL (2010 FIBA World Championship) - With Marko Popovic popping three-pointers, Croatia took command early on and rolled to an 84-64 victory over Tunisia in Group B.
After Tunisia scored eight points in a row to cut Croatia's lead to 10-8, Popovic got hot.
The veteran shooting guard drilled three of his four attempts from long range as part of a 13-2 run that gave his side a 23-10 lead late in the opening quarter.
Three minutes into the second frame and Bojan Bogdanovic's three-pointer stretched the advantage to 31-14.
When Kresimir Loncar buried Croatia's seventh three-pointer of the game from the left corner shortly before the half-time buzzer, the Croatians had a 43-23 stranglehold on the contest and they cruised.
Bogdanovic ended up leading Croatia with 19 points and Popovic had 16 while Macram Ben Romdhane poured in a game-high 23 for Tunisia.
Croatia next face a vitally important game against Brazil while Tunisia will wrap up their FIBA World Championship with a game against tournament favorites Team USA.
You can watch the full highlights of this game on FIBATV.Com.
QUOTES
Croatia guard Zoran Planinic: "It's difficult to say where we are at right now considering we have beaten a team that is inferior to us. I think the real test for us will be tomorrow when we take on Brazil. It's in that game when we will find out how much we have progressed in that game."
Tunisia coach Adel Tlatli: “I am very happy with my team. To lose by 20 points against a team like Croatia is a good result for us. I didn't think we could achieve that before the start of the tournament. I am very pleased because considering my top players have not been playing well at this tournament, other players have stepped up and it's good to see that. It means Tunisia has players to build a team for the future.”
FIBA