U19 WC Quarter-Finals: Spain, Turkey, USA and France in the Final Four

DEBRECEN (Hungary) - Three Europeans plus the two-time reigning champions United States advanced to the Semi-Finals of the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2023 with Spain and Turkey facing off in a rematch of the Final of the FIBA U18 European Championship 2022 and USA taking on France.

 

All four of the Quarter-Finals were blowouts with Turkey's 24-point rout of Canada being the closest result. The average winning margin of 36.8 in the four Quarter-Finals set a new record for the most lopsided set of Quarter-Finals in history. That eclipsed the previous mark of 22.3 points winning margin in the 2013 U19 World Cup. The event has held Quarter-Finals knockout games since the 2007 World Cup.

Historic Spain defense stifles Argentina

Spain booked their ticket to the Semi-Finals with a 85-47 victory over Argentina as the Europeans' defense once again proved too strong. Spain allowed just 8 points in the first quarter and then used a 24-10 run spanning halftime to take an 18-point lead and rolled to the win. Spain set a record for fewest points allowed in a Quarter-Finals game, eclipsing the previous mark of 56 points in 2007 when Serbia beat Turkey 94-56.

 

Baba Miller paced four Spaniards in double figures with 18 points and 9 rebounds while Jordi Rodriguez scored 15 points and Izan Almansa contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds. No player from Argentina scored in double figures.

"We're really happy. We played really good basketball. We base our basketball on defense and during the tough times we won the game with our toughness on defense," said Rodriguez.

Turkey leave Canada no chance

Turkey reached the Semi-Finals for just the second time in history as they steamrolled Canada 97-73 and set up a match-up against Spain. Turkey forced 6 turnovers in the first 3 minutes and scored the first 12 points of the game. The lead ballooned to 18 points in the first quarter and Turkey never looked back. Turkey led by as many as 29 points before Canada trimmed the deficit to 17 points in the fourth quarter. But there would be no comeback.

 

Karahan Efeoglu led the Turks with 27 points while Arda Sivas scored 18 points, Samet Yigitoglu tallied 17 points and 13 rebounds and Berke Buyuktuncel collected 13 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks.

"We were really excited before the game and we really started well. We showed them how the Turkish team can play. I am so lucky that we have a team like this," said Buyuktuncel.

USA  shrug off Japan hot start, roll into Semis

Two-time reigning champions United States shrugged off a hot start by Japan and rolled to a 105-61 victory to move into the top four. Japan made five three-pointers and actually led 21-19 late in the first quarter and it was tied 23-23 early in the second frame. But USA took the second quarter 25-15 and gave up just 10 points in the third quarter.

 

Cody Williams, Omaha Biliew and Mark Armstrong all scored 15 points and Tobe Awaka had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Japan's Akira Jacbos led all scorers with 20 points.

 "We played really good as a team. We were moving the ball really well. Defensively the first quarter was okay and then after that we really locked in and limited their threes. We were just way more active and more focused from the second quarter on. Our defense created a ton of offense and that is what helped us extend the lead," Williams said.

France waste no time, blow out Serbia

France made sure there would be no drama in the last Quarter-Final as they blew out Serbia 98-59 to set up a showdown with USA in the Semi-Finals. France raced ahead by double figures in the first quarter and then allowed just 10 points in the second quarter for a 56-27 lead at the break.

Melvin Ajinca was France's top scorer with 23 points and Zacharie Perrin tallied 16 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks. Filip Borovicanin and Lazar Djokovic both had 13 points in the loss.

 

"We approached the game with a good mentality. We respected Serbia, who are a very good team. We ended up out-playing them so I am just proud of the whole team. This shows we might be onto something. That is a really good win for us, and people probably didn't expect us to win by that much," added Alexandre Sarr, who chipped in 10 points.

Top Performers of the Quarter-Finals

 

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Basketball legend Dirk Nowitzki arrived at the U19 World Cup and greeted the fans as well.

Other results (all Classification 9-16):

- Brazil allowed just 7 second quarter points in grabbing a 72-49 win over Lebanon. Samis Calderon led the way with 14 points.
- Slovenia opened the classification bracket with a comfortable 85-61 victory over Egypt. Jan Vide poured in 20 points as the top scorer for the Europeans.
- China pulled away in the fourth quarter and defeated hosts Hungary 76-66 for their first win of the tournament thanks to Yang Hansen collecting 23 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 blocks.
-  Korea also won their first game, beating Madagascar 72-60 as Yun Kichan scored 21 points.

Schedule for Saturday, July 1

Semi-Finals
France v USA
Spain v Turkey

Classification 5-8
Argentina v Canada
Serbia v Japan

Classification 9-12
Brazil v Slovenia
Korea v China

Classification 13-16
Lebanon v Egypt
Madagascar v Hungary

FIBA