Serbia come out on top in Group D, as Group C winners Spain stay perfect

ISTANBUL (FIBA EuroBasket 2017) - Serbia came out of Group D with their chin held high after clinching the top spot in the standings on the final day of the FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Group Phase in Istanbul, while defending champions Spain kept their record perfect before the Round of 16.

All qualification tickets to the next round of the competition had already been handed out before the final day of action, but it wasn't until the last game in Istanbul that the pairings (below) for the first Knock-Out stage were decided.

Boban Marjanovic had his most dominant game of the tournament, scoring 22 points and grabbing 7 rebounds, as the Aleksandar Djordjevic-coached Serbia downed Belgium 74-54 to improve to a 4-1 record.

Local hero Bogdan Bogdanovic finished the game with 15 points and 9 assists for the winners, while Manu Lecomte set his new tournament-high with 12 points for Belgium.

It was Latvia's 89-79 victory over Turkey later in the day that ultimately allowed Serbia to finish first in the standings and paired them with Hungary in the Round of 16.

Kristaps Porzingis and his 28 points were instrumental, as the Baltic team avoided a showdown with Spain already in the first round of the Elimination Round. Instead, Latvia finished second and will play Montenegro, while fourth-placed Turkey will have to go up against Group C winners from Spain.

In spite of finishing the Group Phase with an 82-70 win over Great Britain behind a 30-point and 8-assist game from star man Aleksei Shved, Russia dropped to third place in Group D and will take on Croatia.

Croatia, who had locked in second place ahead of time, did not show any mercy against Czech Republic in Jiri Welsch's last international game in Group C, registering a 107-69 blowout with Bojan Bogdanovic scoring a game-high 25 points.

Ahora a preparar los octavos de final! #SomosEquipo #EuroBasket2017 #LaFamilia @baloncestofeb @FIBA #Gracias pic.twitter.com/4d0m8KsgPL

— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) September 7, 2017

Meanwhile, fourth-placed Hungary could not come up with a win against the Spaniards to cause any shake-ups in the Group C standings, picking up an 87-64 loss in what was a record-breaking game for Pau Gasol, who surpassed Tony Parker as the all-time top scorer in FIBA EuroBasket history.

In the last game, Montenegro kept the Group Phase co-hosts Romania winless in Cluj-Napoca with an 86-69 triumph, in spite of a 14-point, 11-assist and 10-rebound triple-double from Andrei Mandache for the hosts.

FIBA