Classification Roundup

by Dan Casey

Nikola Rebic was the driving force for Serbia once more with19 points

Serbia held off Italy to claim 9th place with an 83-75 win, and Greece squeezed past Ukraine 67-65 for 11th place in Hradec Kralove.

Serbia's hot-shooting and rebounding was the key to victory, as they won the battle of the boards 38-28 while converting 55% of their shots.

Doko Salic hit a shot at the half-time buzzer to give Serbia a 43-32 lead, and Guduric converted early in the final period to extend the lead to 15. A 13-2 run from the Italian team made the end of the game tense. But Italy then went 4:15 without a field goal as Serbia pushed the lead back up to 12 to make the game safe.

Dusan Ristic's double-double (24 points, 11 rebounds) led Serbia, with Nikola Rebic adding 19 points including a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line. Marko Guduric had 13 points. Simone Fontecchio had a game-high 25 points for Italy, and added 4 steals.

Dimitrios Stamatis was the hero for Greece in the Classification Game for 11th place as he grabbed a steal and converted a three-point play for Greece to take a decisive lead.

Vasileios Charalampopoulos and Sokratis Gkelios then confirmed victory from the free-throw line.

In a pulsating battle, the lead changed hands multiple times but Greece finally held on to claim victory.

Michail Liapis and Georgios Diamantakos top-scored with 12 points, Diamantakos adding 2 blocked shots. Stamatis ended with 11 points. Yevgen Sakhniuk and Anton Dziuba led Ukraine with 17 points.