US, Spain move to 2-0 in FIBA World Cup

SEVILLE, Spain – United States and Spain both collected their second straight wins at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup on Sunday, August 31 while Croatia fought off tough Argentina and Senegal picked up a historic victory.

Kenneth Faried led five Americans in double figures with 22 points and Anthony Davis scored 19 as the reigning champions had a fight against Turkey before prevailing 98-77 in a rematch of the 2010 final.

James Harden chipped in 14 points and seven assists for the mighty Americans in Group C.

The rest of the Bilbao group is a mess as the next four teams are all 1-1 after two games, including Turkey, who got 12 points from Cenk Akyol in the loss.

A day after getting beaten down by the Americans, Finland fended off Ukraine 81-76 as Shawn Huff had 23 points and eight rebounds. Both teams are 1-1 as well as Dominican Republic, who beat winless New Zealand 76-63 thanks to 29 points from Francisco Garcia.

Hosts Spain had an easier time in blasting past Egypt 91-54 as Serge Ibaka led the way with 18 points in Group A.

While Spain moved to 2-0, France and Serbia are both 1-1 after the 2013 European champions won their clash 74-73 with Joffrey Lauvergne picking up 19 points and the game winning free throws in the waning seconds.

Brazil are 2-0 after beating winless Iran 79-50 as Alex Garcia paced Brazil with 12 points.

Group B saw history as Senegal upset Puerto Rico 77-67 for their first win at a worlds since they beat South Korea 75-72 at the 1998 World Championship. Gorgui Dieng had 18 points and 13 rebounds for Senegal, who since then had dropped all five games at the 2006 World Championship in Japan. The Africans’ only other win at a World Championship came against China in 1978.

“We’ve been chasing this for a long time. In Japan, we almost had it,” said Senegal captain Maleye Ndoye, a member of the 2006 team.

Puerto Rico star Carlos Arroyo missed the final three quarters with an ankle injury and the team could not compensate in dropping to 0-2 with Senegal moving to 1-1.

Both Croatia and Greece top the group with 2-0 records.

Croatia got a balanced effort in grabbing a 90-85 win over Argentina as Krunoslav Simon’s 18 points led five players in double figures.

“We are playing as a team. That’s the most important thing for us. On defense we are helping each other and on offense we are sharing the ball. And when we play like that, it’s tough to play against us,” said Simon.

Argentina dropped to 1-1 despite 30 points and nine rebounds from Luis Scola.

Greece were never really able to put away Philippines but still won solidly, 82-70 with Georgios Printezis scoring 25 points against the winless Philippines.

Group D also has two undefeated teams as both Slovenia and Lithuania cruised to wins in Gran Canaria.

The Dragic brothers Goran and Zoran combined for 40 points in Slovenia’s 89-68 win over winless Mexico while Donatas Motiejunas scored 12 points and Jonas Valanciunas collected 11 points and 13 rebounds in Lithuania’s 75-62 win over Angola.

Australia picked up their first win, knocking off South Korea 89-55 as Joe Ingles finished with 17 points. – Rappler.com