FIBA World Cup 2014 – Brazil Crush Rivals to Complete Last 8 Line-up

By Bradley Gains on September 8, 2014

The quarter-finals have been set after the last four teams made it through to the last eight stage at the FIBA World Cup 2014 on Sunday.

After going through the first round with a perfect 5-0 record, Greece would have had high hopes of a possible medal in Spain but capitulated against Serbia to bow out of the competition while Turkey left it very late to knock out Australia.

Here’s a re-cap of the final four Last 16 match-ups:

New Zealand 71-76 Lithuania

Jonas Valanciunas led his side into the quarter-finals with an efficient 22 points and 13 rebounds in Lithuania’s 67-61 victory over New Zealand. The Tall Blacks won three of the four quarters but were left to a rue a slow start which saw them trail 23-9 after the opening ten minutes. Corey Webster top scored with 26 points and even gave his side the lead in the final quarter at 59-58. The game was evenly poised heading into the final minutes before Jonas Maciulis nailed a 3-pointer which killed off New Zealand’s hopes with Lithuania able to seal the win at the foul line.

Serbia 90-72 Greece

Serbia trailed for just 20 seconds for the entire game as they reached the quarter-finals stage with an impressive 90-72 win against the previously undefeated Greece. Bogdan Bogdanovic led four other players in double figures with a 21-point haul containing four triples as Serbia shot above the 50% mark from downtown. The Greeks fell away in the late third quarter and their misery was compounded after being dominated in the final quarter to see their hopes of a podium finish disappear. Serbia are one of two teams ranked outside the world’s top 10 to make the last 8 and will look to replicate their efforts from Turkey in 2010 by making the semi-finals.

Turkey 65-64 Australia

It went down to the wire in Barcelona as Emir Prelzdic nailed a 3-pointer in the dying seconds to give Turkey a 65-64 victory over Australia. Prelzdic and Sinan Guler both added 16 points to give Turkey some hope of going one better than their final defeat four years ago. Australia led by as many as 8 points in the final quarter but couldn’t hold on as Turkey edged their way back before delivering a late knockout blow. A valiant effort nonetheless from the Boomers and a few players on the roster could find themselves in the NBA for the upcoming season. As for Turkey, a place in the semi-finals is up for grabs when they take on Lithuania.

Brazil 85-65 Argentina

Brazil booked their spot in the last eight with a dominant 20-point win against their South-American rivals. It wasn’t all plain-sailing for the Brazilians as they had to battle back from a first-quarter deficit but once they got going, they proved hard to stop and they claimed the second half 52-29 to power through. Raulzinho Neto impressed with an efficient shooting night with 21 points on 8/9 total shooting from the field. Pablo Prigioni top scored with 18 points while Luis Scola could only convert 2/10 FG attempts as Argentina suffered a disappointing defeat.

Game of the day. Highlights between Turkey and Australia in a game decided in the final seconds.

Quarter-Finals: Spain v France, Serbia v Brail, USA v Slovenia, Lithuania v Turkey

Watch the action unfold on Livebasketball.tv

Do you like our work?

We have a tiny favour to ask. In 2018 we set out to make Hoopsfix sustainable by building our relationship directly with our readers. Up until now, Hoopsfix has been creating editorials, videos and podcasts to provide sorely missing coverage of the British game and its distinct culture and community.

We have funded Hoopsfix with our freelance work creating basketball media, but sadly that means not only does it fall behind our client’s priorities, but some of those clients are the same organisations we need to report objectively on putting us in a conflicted position.

We want to devote more time to our mission of helping British basketball reach its potential, and produce even more content for the basketball community by making Hoopsfix a sustainable 100% independent business funded directly by our readers through Patreon.

If everyone who enjoys our content chose to support us, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $3 per month, you can support Hoopsfix – and it only takes a minute.

We are tremendously honoured and humbled to have a community of people who value what we do, and we look forward to being at the forefront of the British game as it continues to evolve.

Support Hoopsfix