SRB/BRA - Serbia stroll into final
NOVI SAD (FIBA U19 World Championship) - Serbia secured a place in the final of the FIBA U19 World Championship after a commanding first-half performance helped them to an 89-74 win over Brazil. An 11-0 run at the start of the game allowed the host nation to establish a 25-17 lead by the end of the first period.
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NOVI SAD (FIBA U19 World Championship) - Serbia secured a place in the final of the FIBA U19 World Championship after a commanding first-half performance helped them to an 89-74 win over Brazil.
An 11-0 run at the start of the game allowed the host nation to establish a 25-17 lead by the end of the first period.
And that success continued in the second quarter as three-pointers from Mladen Jeremic and Dusan Katnic helped Serbia on their way to a comfortable 49-28 advantage by the interval.
Brazil staged something of a comeback in the second half with Betinho Duarte's trey sparking a 23-18 third period in favour of the Brazilians.
But although the visitors also came out on top in the final 10 minutes, Serbia had done enough in the early stages to claim the win.
Jeremic finished with 21 points and six rebounds for the winners while Milan Macvan added 12 points.
Paulo Prestes scored a game-high 31 points for the Brazilians, but it was not enough to prevent defeat.
Serbia coach Miroslav Nikolic said: "We started the game very well. We'll try to rest until tomorrow and I hope the fans will come to support us.
"To be in the top four teams in the world is great. We have very good young players and they proved now they are a successful team.
"They played to their maximum and tomorrow we're going to the finals and we'll do our maximum again.
"I expect France to beat USA and meet us in the finals. Congratulations to my team. Everybody was expecting our national team to fail, but we made it."
Brazil coach Jose Alves Neto said: "Serbia, one more time, played a great, great game.
"I like so much Serbia's work and the group is very, very strong not only physical but also mentally and their tactics are strong.
"They deserved to win the game, because they played very well. The coach did a great job.
"We tried to isolate some players, but they played very well. Our team started the game very badly and we were down 11-0, and it was very comfortable for the Serbs.
"We came here to win a medal and we can do that tomorrow. We need to think now about the medal. It's very important for Brazilian basketball to win a medal."
By Yarone Arbel
FIBA