Spain march on
Defending champions Spain are not yet ready to relinquish their title in the 2010 FIBA World Championships. The Spaniards unleashed a fiery fourth period to beat Greece, 80-72, at the Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul to advance to the quarter-finals of the tournament.
It was a close game from the start until the Spaniards slowly pulled away in the final period. The Greeks, who lost to the Spaniards at the final four years ago in Saitama, built an early 17-11 lead behind the hot shooting of Nikolaos Zisis. But Spain quickly recovered to keep the game close. A three-pointer from Raul Lopez and a buzzer-beating basket from Felipe Reyes allowed Spain to take a 22-19 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.
Spain led by as many as seven points early in the second but the Greeks closed the gap again. The Spaniards unleashed another run towards the closing minutes to build an eight-point advantage. Spain led 37-31 at the break.
The tempo of the game did not change much in the third as the two squads continued to trade baskets. The Greeks also regained the lead early in the quarter. Jonas Kazlauskas's wards threatened to pull away when they took a 51-45 lead with 2:49 left in the quarter. But Spain responded with a 7-0 run to end the period with a 52-51 advantage.
The game remained close in the early stages of the fourth. The turning point finally came at the mid-way stage of the quarter when Rudy Fernandez sparked a decisive 9-0 run. The Portland Trail Blazers guard scored five points as the Spaniards extended their lead to 67-57. The Greeks desperately tried another come-back but could only come within four points. Ricky Rubio and Juan Carlos Navarro converted crucial free throws to keep their opponents at bay.
Navarro top-scored for the Spaniards with 22 points. Fernandez added 14 points while Sergio Llull had nine. Reyes had six points and 10 rebounds. Rubio also finished with six points and made six assists. Zisis and Dimitris Diamantidis were the top performers for Greece with 16 points. Big man Sofoklis Schortsanitis added 13 points while Vassilis Spanoulis and Antonis Fotsis contributed 12 each.
Spain will next play Serbia, who slipped past Croatia, 73-72, in the day's first game. The Spaniards, coached by Italian Sergio Scariolo, are hoping to make it two wins in a row over Serbia after crushing the same squad in last year’s Eurobasket tournament.
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