No alarms and no surprises: Montenegro rise to 2-0

MANILA (Philippines) - Make that two of two! Montenegro stormed to another comfortable win, as they climbed to 2-0 in Group D looking like a team ready to chase the top spot in the standings. They will have a chance to do so versus Lithuania in two days' time, thanks to their 89-74 triumph against Egypt.

Lithuania's win over Mexico later in the day ensured both teams secured tickets to the Second Round and their head-to-head contest on Tuesday will determine the group winner.

Turning point: Montenegro changed their jerseys from red to white, but everything else was the same as it was against Mexico. They stormed to a quick 10-point lead in the first quarter, led by Dino Radoncic who had 10 points in the first quarter.

Egypt kept fighting and stayed in the game despite losing their leader Assem Marei to injury. However, they were unable to cut the gap to single digits the rest of the way and unable to test Montenegro in the closing minutes.

TCL Player of the Game: Here's Johnny! Nikola Ivanovic, also known as Johnny, led the bench unit, hitting three big three-pointers, including back-to-back shots to create separation in the first half.

The point guard finished with 15 points in 22 minutes of work, with four other men in double digits for coach Bosko Radovic: Nikola Vucevic with 16, Kendrick Perry with 11, Vladimir Mihailovic and Dino Radoncic both with 10.

Stats don't lie: Montenegro's defense was outstanding, forcing 22 turnovers, getting 15 steals and it led to a 30-17 advantage in points from turnovers.

Bottom line: With this win, Montenegro are an inch away from becoming the smallest nation to ever qualify to the round of 16 of the FIBA Basketball World Cup. And they don't look like they are done, they want more than this.

Egypt did not shy away from contact, they competed and Ehab Amin finished with a game-high 26 points on the day.

The Egyptians will chase their first World Cup win in the last 29 years in their third game, against Mexico.

They said: "We had 22 turnovers, they had 30 points off these turnovers, that was the big difference. We did a better job in rebounding, even without our best rebounder Assem." - Ehab Amin, Egypt

"I feel better about today than I did about yesterday. I've consistently told these guys it's not a one game tournament, and our job is just to continue to be as professional as we can, prepare the best we can. We understand we're not coming here as favorites most nights, but can we find a way to compete and have a chance to win." - Roy Rana, Egypt head coach

"I'm very happy to be here with all the guys in the Philippines. We talked a lot about this for the past few days, so far for each and every one of us it was truly a great experience, great organization, especially by Filipino people who are very warm and nice. Honestly, this is a very big success for our country." - Nikola Ivanovic, Montenegro

"It's funny, I didn't even know he was there. I was just trying to shoot out ahead, and my job is to finish as aggressively as I could. The and-one is just the icing on the cake, but it didn't count for nothing because I missed the free throw. Energy plays like that are what I live for. (The stare down) is just part of the game. A little flex or whatever, nothing personal, just emotions of the game." - Kendrick Perry on his poster dunk

"This is our best record in the history of the World Cup, we were playing basketball precisely, played aggressively in the first and third quarter, but in the second and fourth we were sleeping. If you want to play with the big and stronger teams in this tournament, like Lithuania in two days, we must be awake for four quarters." - Bosko Radovic, Montenegro head coach

FIBA