LILLE (France) - With Quarter-Finals spots on the line, Serbia and South Sudan played a memorable last game of the group stage at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille, followed closely all over the world, but especially in Greece.
With Brazil taking one of the two best third-placed spots at 1-2 and -7, Greece needed Serbia to defeat South Sudan by three points or more, so their 1-2 and -8 records also sends them through to the elite eight of the Olympics.
The final score said 96-85, placing South Sudan at 1-2 and -17, just nine points behind Greece in the third-placed teams rankings, and keeping them without their first ever Quarter-Finals appearance.
Turning point
Teams traded blows throughout the game, and even when Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nikola Jokic joined forces to score 43 points before the fourth quarter had started, Serbia could not break away for a double digit advantage.
Instead, South Sudan made it back to -1 early in the final stanza, after a gigantic alley-oop dunk by Wenyen Gabriel which blew the roof off the stadium with the frenzy it created in the crowd.
However, coach Svetislav Pesic knew how to calm down the rhythm of the game - by giving the ball back to Bogdanovic, who was up to 28 points personal after three minutes of the fourth, and Jokic, who found open teammates and created another mini break for Serbia at 91-74 with 2:45 to play.
It turned out the big Gabriel dunk was actually the turning point of the game, but for Serbia, as they went on an 19-3 run to put the game out of jeopardy.
Game hero
When Bogdan Bogdanovic is having one of his nights, it's probably best to sit back, relax and enjoy the ride - unless you're on the other side of the floor.
Serbia's vocal leader was unstoppable with 30 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field, making 6-of-9 from deep, and still dishing out 8 assists. A near perfect performance, especially in the two-men game with Nikola Jokic (22pts, 13reb, 4ast).
Stats don't lie
South Sudan made 14-of-34 shots from beyond the arc, not a bad shooting night at all. But Serbia were better, hitting 66 percent from two and 52 percent from three, just enough to run away with this win.
Bottom line
If you felt a sudden breeze in the air coming from the southeastern part of Europe around 23:00 CET, it was the collective sigh of relief from the entire country of Greece.
They can exhale now, Bogdanovic and Serbia pushed South Sudan to the last place among the third-placed teams, pushing Greece to the Quarter-Finals.
As for South Sudan, to say they can be proud of their performances would be an understatement. They've established themselves as the newest powerhouse of Africa, and they proved they can be competitive in any environment.
Carlik Jones (17pts, 10ast) and Marial Shayok (17pts) led the team in scoring on the day.
They said
We knew how tough of an opponent they are - Bogi
"We expected this kind of a game, we knew how tough of an opponent they are. They aren't giving up. They trailed by 20 against the USA, and still came back to -5, -6, -7. South Sudan should not be underestimated, they want to win, they want to play, they want success, really, congratulations on everything they've done." - Bogdan Bogdanovic, Serbia
Fantastic game - Coach Pesic
"Fantastic game, it was a spectacle. South Sudan are playing basketball from the future, in ten years this is what basketball will be played like. Their mental strength is huge, next to technical and tactical stuff, that's equally as important. They never give up, it's tough to break them. They don't care who's on the other side, they are playing their game with a lot of confidence." - Serbia head coach Svetislav Pesic
It hurts - Coach Ivey
"It hurts. My guys are in there hurting. I'm hurting. It stings, it really does. I got a bunch of dogs in that locker room, they compete, they play hard and they don't complain. They played through adversity the whole tournament, and they competed, from the Puerto Rico game, to the USA game, to tonight. Every possession, on the floor, hustling, 50-50 balls, everything, offensive rebounding, just playing hard. I'm very disappointed." - South Sudan head coach Royal Ivey
Quick notes
Bogdan Bogdanovic (1058 career points) became the all-time leader in points scored for Serbia in all competitions, overtaking Milos Teodosic (1057)
Serbia never scored more than 95 points in any of their previous 15 games at the Olympics, but then had 95+ in back-to-back games against South Sudan and Puerto Rico
Serbia had 31 assists, the most of any team at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Only USA (4 times), Australia (2 times) and Spain (once) got more than 30 assists in a single game since 2000
Nikola Jokic is the first Serbian player combining for more than 20 points and more than 10 rebounds in a single game at the Olympics
Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 30 points, the most by any Serbian player in a single game at the Olympics
Carlik Jones had 17 points, 10 assists and 5 rebounds, joining Luka Doncic (twice), Facundo Campazzo and Alexey Shved, the only other players with 15+ points, 10+ rebounds and 5+ assists since 2000
FIBA