Czechs, Serbia advance to EuroBasket quarters
LILLE, France — Jan Vesely and Tomas Satoransky had double-doubles to lead the Czech Republic past Croatia 80-59 Sunday and into the quarterfinals of the European Championship for the first time.
The Czechs will next play Serbia, which beat Finland 94-81 for its sixth victory in as many games.
Center Miroslav Raduljica led Serbia with 27 points while Nenad Bjelica chipped in with 19 and added 14 rebounds. Sasu Salin scored 26 for Finland.
The Czech Republic took command early and never relented, leading by as many as 30 against a Croatia team that had been considered favorite.
“The heart of the players, the commitment was the difference,” the Czechs’ Israeli coach Ronen Ginzburg said.
Croatia played without energy despite a number of NBA players in the team and never looked like it could trouble the Czechs.
Center Vesely had 20 points and 13 rebounds, while guard Satoransky added 15 points, 11 assists and five rebounds. Bojan Bogdanovic had 12 for Croatia.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling, we were confident,” Czech guard Jiri Welsch said. “When they are on, they are one of the best teams in Europe. But they can fall apart when they come under pressure.”
Czechoslovakia had 12 medals from the Europeans, including gold in 1946, but none since a silver in 1985. The Czech Republic and Slovakia split apart in 1993.
Croatia has not made the podium since 1995, when it finished third in Athens, Greece. But its players walked off the podium before the gold medals were presented to Serbia-dominated Yugoslavia as a result of tensions between the countries.
Croatia finished fourth two years ago but Sunday’s defeat means it cannot qualify for the Olympics next year in Rio de Janeiro.
Krunoslav Simon, Croatia’s top performer at the tournament, hobbled off in the third quarter with a right-ankle injury. He had nine points.
“This is the worst day in my life as basketball player,” Simon said. “I don’t know what to say I am so disappointed.”
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