BERLIN — Italy defeated previously unbeaten Serbia, including two-time reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, in an unexpected victory, 94-86, after going on a 16-2 run to start the fourth quarter.
Italy received 19 points from Simone Fontecchio and 16 points from Achille Polonara, in addition to the 22 points scored by Marco Spissu and Nicolo Melli.
Jokic scored the most points for Serbia with 32 and added 13 rebounds. He connected on 8 of 14 field goal attempts, while his colleagues only managed to shoot 18 for 47 (38%).
On Wednesday, Italy will compete against France in the quarterfinals.
The EuroBasket run for Ukraine is over.
A.J. Poland defeated Ukraine 94-86 on Sunday to eliminate them from the European championships, with Slaughter scoring 24 points and Mateusz Ponitka adding 22.
Poland, which completed the game on a 20-10 run, will play Slovenia and the reigning EuroBasket champions on Wednesday in the quarterfinals. Aleksander Balcerowski scored 14 points and Michal Sokolowski had 13.
The national team of Ukraine's summer program abruptly ended at that point. Throughout the summer, the team competed and trained in several European nations but could not assemble at home due to the continuous conflict brought on by Russia's invasion in February.
During EuroBasket, games were broadcast all around Ukraine, and players acknowledged that their success in the competition had cheered up some people.
Svi Mykhailiuk stated, "I think it inspires and helps them greatly, just to keep their attention off the war a little bit and simply watch us play." "Our performance today was not very good, but throughout the entire game, we gave it our all. I'm hoping they liked it. Since all the guys' families are still back home, it's difficult for everyone to be here. I do, however, value everyone's presence. I enjoy seeing everyone struggle.
With 15 points, Vyacheslav Bobrov topped Ukraine. Issue Sanon and Artem Pustovyi each scored 13 points, Mykhailiuk had 12 points, and Ivan Tkachenko finished with 10.
In a game that saw 12 lead changes and 11 ties, neither team ever held a lead of more than nine.
It was difficult, but we managed, Mykhailiuk remarked. "I believe we went above and beyond what was anticipated."
With 43 points from Lauri Markkanen, Finland is now guaranteed to have its best EuroBasket performance in 55 years.
With 4:25 remaining, Shawn Huff's 3-pointer gave Finland a permanent lead. Markkanen's layup finished a 10-0 run that decided the game, as Finland defeated Croatia to go to the quarterfinals of the EuroBasket for the first time since 1967.
In search of its first semifinal berth at the European championships in 17 appearances, Finland will take against Spain on Tuesday.
Markkanen scored 26 points in the second half, connecting 19 of his 29 field goal attempts. He added nine rebounds for Finland, which received 17 points from Sasu Salin and 16 from Edon Maxhuni.
With 43 points, Markkanen and others are tied for the eighth-highest scoring effort in EuroBasket history and the best by a player from Finland.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 23 points for Croatia, receiving 11 points from Krunoslav Simon and 17 points each from Jaleen Smith, Dario Saric, and Krunoslav Simon.
Greece defeated the Czech Republic to advance to a quarterfinal game with host Germany behind Giannis Antetokounmpo's 27 points and ten rebounds.
Greece, which received 14 points from Nick Calathes, 13 points from Ioannis Papapetrou, and 10 points from Kostal Sloukas, won the game thanks to Antetokounmpo's 3-pointer with 31 seconds remaining.
It was the fourth and last day game on a mathematically strange day in Berlin, where all four winners earned precisely 94 points. 86, 86, 86, and 88 are the four losing scores.
For the Czech Republic, Jan Vesely scored 21 points on a 10-of-13 shooting. Vojtech Hruban contributed 17, Ondrej Balvin and Patrik Auda each scored 12 points, and Jaromir Bohacik scored 11.
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