ISTANBUL (2010 FIBA World Championship) – Brazil thrashed Croatia 92-74 in the last Group B game of the FIBA World Championship to set up an Eight-Finals meeting with their South American rivals Argentina.
 
Anxious to bounce back after heart-breaking defeats to the United States and Slovenia, Ruben Magnano’s team took a 48-35 advantage to half-time and the delivered a knockout punch immediately after the restart with a 19-2 run for a 57-37 stranglehold.
 
The lead ballooned to 25 points before Brazil settled for an 18-point victory.
 
Brazil’s Leandro Barbosa had all 17 of his points in the opening three quarters, with Alex Garcia also scoring his 15 in the first half-hour.
 
Anderson Varejao was also a lively presence in his second game back from an ankle injury.
 
The power forward had 12 rebounds to go with his two points in the first three periods and like Barbosa and Alex, he stayed on the bench in the fourth.
 
Marcelo Machado finished as Brazil’s leading scorer with 18 points.
 
Marco Popovic poured in 15 points for Croatia, who must now face their bitter rivals, Group A winners Serbia.
 
Quotes:
 
Croatia head coach Josip Vrankovic: "We didn't play a good first half, we played too soft. We had a problem with defense. If you play like this against Brazil you will lose as was our case.

"We have to play stronger defense and play better basketball if we want to do something against Serbia. We know them very well because they come from the same area. They have good players, good transition so we must play a serious game. We have to play tough if we want to do something. It's going to be a physical game, for sure."
 
Brazil head coach Ruben Magnano: "I think the team played very focused as we had planned. We covered all the areas to make like difficult for their shooters. We suffered on offensive rebounds but in general, we did a great job on defense which allowed us to play good on offense. The major tournaments, like the World Championships and the Olympics, can be very cruel at times. I will have to play a little bit with my country but I have a sporting compromise and in my head the only thought is how Brazil can compete to go through to the next round. I just know the players, they are way too talented for them to believe that I will do a special scout on them. They have a lot of belief in themselves. It's very difficult to trick Argentina. Without a doubt, it's going to be a ‘clasico’ on our continent and whoever wins will go through and whoever loses will be wishing they hadn't."

FIBA

ISTANBUL (2010 FIBA World Championship) - The United States waited until the third quarter before finally putting away a pesky Tunisia in the last Group B game for both sides at the FIBA World Championship.

Eric Gordon had 21 points for the USA, who only led 39-33 at half-time and 47-39 midway through the third quarter before turning on the afterburners and racing to a 92-57 victory.

Mike Krzyzewski's men, who had already clinched first place in the pool, won for the fifth straight time and remained undefeated in all of their games this summer.

Tunisia lost for the fifth consecutive game in Istanbul but provided a lot of thrills for their fans back home.

Point guard Marouan Kechrid was among their standout performers at the World Championship and he had 15 points against the Americans - all on three-pointers.

Macram Ben Romdhane also enjoyed the occasion for Tunisia, slam-dunking his way to 11 points and coming up a couple of rebounds shy of a double-double.

After the clash and on the court, some of Tunisia's players took the opportunity to have their photos taken with the Los Angeles Lakers NBA champion Lamar Odom of Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose, two of the most famous players in the USA roster.

The Americans will face Angola in the Eight-Final after the FIBA Africa Championship gold medalists suffered a heavy defeat to Australia in Group A to finish fourth.

Tunisia, the bronze-medal winners at last year's FIBA Africa Championship, have exited the competition.

You can watch the complete highlights of this game and much more at FIBATV.Com.

Quotes:

USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski: "We thought in our pool every team played hard. Tunisia's play was symbolic of that type of play, as they fought on every possession. An outstanding first half for them. You get 25 offensive rebounds, it means that you never give up on the ball and I admire that. Although we need to work on our stuff a little better, I thought we played hard in the second half.

"These past two games were different for us. We wanted to make sure we didn't get any serious injuries. We wanted to do a few things to get us in better shape. We made more passes in the second half and got the ball a little bit quicker. I think we are fairly healthy, we are 100% with attitude. In practice, we have to be better.

"We need to be ready for Angola because in the next stage, if we don't win, we don't win it. 

"It's kind of like the NCAA tournament. I always want to look good. They is a tendency for an athlete to know when they have to compete at a high level.”

Tunisia head coach Adel Tlatli: "Congratulations to the USA team. We did a good job in the first half but the defense of USA team changed in the second half. Being this our first participation in the World Championship, I am happy with the work done by my players. It's the beginning, it's new history in Tunisia. But we have to invest money in the sport in order to compete at the highest level."

FIBA

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