U17 World Cup Day 3: Round of 16 set after Serbia, Spain surge to second place in groups

MALAGA (Spain) -The Round of 16 matchups are set for the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022 as Serbia and Spain both surged to big wins to take second place in their respective groups while four teams - defending champions United States, Australia, France and Lithuania - all advanced to the Knockout Phase without a defeat.  

Early surge sends Serbia past Canada to second place 

With France already locked up the top spot in Group A, Serbia and Canada went to battle for second place and Serbia raced away early and were never challenged with an 86-67 victory. Filip Jovic collected 20 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals, Mitar Bosnjakovic picked up 12 points and 10 rebounds and Ognjen Stankovic added 12 points and 5 assists for Serbia, who will face Dominican Republic in the Round of 16 on Wednesday.

"We were faster and tougher on defense. We went up 20 and we played easy," said Serbia head coach Dragoljub Avramovic, whose team raced away to a 19-2 lead and were ahead 29-5 as Canada missed their first 16 shots. "I am really happy about my team in the group stage. All of them played good."

Canada head coach Patrick Tatham, whose team will face Spain to start the Knockout Phase, said his men are still learning at this point in the tournament, adding: "Lots of learning, lots of learning. We're playing aggressive, we're playing hard, but we're still learning a bit on defense. And we're trying to find ways to score the basketball on offense." 

Spain never let Dominicans threaten, take second in group

Sergio De Larrea

Hosts Spain failed to really put away Dominican Republic for good until late but the Europeans were never really threatened in registering a comfortable 73-55 victory to lock up second place in Group B - resulting in a Round of 16 showdown with Canada. Izan Almansa paced Spain with 13 points and 7 rebounds while Lucas Hernandez scored 13 points and Sergio De Larrea pitched in 4 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists.   

France achieve first goal - winning the group

After two strong performances on the first two days, France avoided a letdown against New Zealand by grabbing a 104-35 victory over the Oceania side to remain perfect in Group A. Zaccharie Risarcher led the way with 19 points and Illan Pietrus collected 18 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.

"I think it's a great performance for us. We have to improve for the next games but the most important thing for us was to win this group. I think the schedule for the World Cup is better for my team if we win the group," said France coach Bernard Faure, whose team will face Japan in the Round of 16 and would play either Slovenia or Argentina in the Quarter-Finals.

USA unleash defense, dash Mali hopes

United States were challenged for about 14 minutes and then unleashed their vaunted defense to cruise to a 112-64 victory over Mali to win Group C with a perfect 3-0 record. Mali trailed just 24-22 with 6 minutes left in the second quarter before the Americans started forcing turnovers and raced away on a 21-6 run to take control. Ian Jackson paced USA with 23 points and 7 rebounds while Ron Holland scored 14 points, Sean Stewart had 11 points and Cooper Flagg did his all-around thing with 9 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks. 

 "We're coming together very well. We understand what our strengths are. Part of our strength is our defensive presence and the guys who we have who can be very aggressive on defense. And that gives us an advantage when we can keep bringing in guys. They're doing a good job of keep getting better. We still feel there are a couple things we can still be better at, and they feel the same way. That's what is going to make us successful." said USA head coach Sharman White, whose team will start Knockout Phase play against Egypt. 

Highlight of the day 

So many United States highlights to choose from but Boogie Fland slaloming through traffic before the big dunk by Ron Holland is pretty nice.

Picture of the day

 
Stopping Rocco Zikarsky by any means necessary - or at least trying to stop the Australian big man - which nobody in the U17 World Cup has really done yet.

Other results

- Australia (3-0 in Group D) leave no doubt with 86-50 triumph of Argentina (1-2).
- Lithuania  (3-0) claimed undefeated top honors in Group D with a 73-63 win over Japan (0-3).
- Poland (2-1 in Group D) have little trouble with Egypt (0-3) in a 84-65 win.
- In a battle of U17 debutants, Slovenia (2-1) ease past 84-51 over Lebanon (0-3). 

Round of 16 matchups

France vs Japan
Serbia vs Dominican Republic
Canada vs Spain
New Zealand vs Lithuania
USA vs Egypt
Slovenia vs Argentina
Mali vs Poland
Lebanon vs Australia

FIBA