Four undefeated teams left as U19 World knockout stage begins

HERAKLION (2015 FIBA U19 World Championship) - Group play at the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship is complete and the tournament enters the knockout stage with all 16 teams dreaming of capturing four straight victories and hoisting the trophy on 5 July at Heraklion Arena.

All four groups ended up with the same breakdown of an undefeated 3-0 champion followed by teams with 2-1, 1-2 and 0-3 records. The teams from Groups A and B will cross in the Round of 16 with Group C teams taking on those from Group D.

The match-ups between the two top teams of the group were not really that close. 

Turkey versus Spain was the closest of the four contests as Turkey prevailed 72-65. The Greece-Serbia clash - decided by an 8-0 fourth quarter run by the tournament hosts - had plenty of dramatics with Greece winning 69-60 to take top honors in Group D.

United States eased past under-manned Croatia, 103-81, in Group A while Canada finished atop Group C thanks to a 78-54 victory over Italy.

One of the more surprising teams of the tournament has been Dominican Republic, back on the U19 global stage for the first time since 1983. The Dominicans gave both Serbia and Greece all they could handle before picking up their first win over Korea.

The group stage saw a number of players stand out for their teams.

Harry Giles and Josh Jackson - both underclass players who helped the United States to the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship title - both have collected double-doubles for the U.S. team.

China big man Hu Jinqiu - another player from last summer's U17 Worlds - has been the most efficient player at the tournament with 26.3 per game thanks to 18.7 points per game and 12.7 rebounds. 

The eight Round of 16 match-ups are:
Egypt-Spain
Iran-Turkey
Italy-Dominican Republic
Croatia-China
Canada-Korea
USA-Argentina
Australia-Serbia
Tunisia-Greece.

The most intriguing of those will likely be Italy versus Dominican Republic, who will be playing their third European country; while Australia look to beat a Serbian team which lost against Greece on Tuesday night; and China look to knock off Croatia.

FIBA