Hot-handed Serbians pummel South Sudanese to sweep Group B

MANILA, Philippines – A hot-shooting Serbia swept Group B play after completely dismantling FIBA World Cup first timers South Sudan, 115-83, Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum (philstar.com)

The game was a wire-to-wire affair, with Serbia starting the game hot as they finished the first quarter with a 10-1 run to take a 30-20 lead.

The Serbians just cruised to the finish line the rest of the way, leading by as much as 29 points through three quarters as their 3-point shooting just blew South Sudan out of the water.

South Sudan, however, cut the lead to just 18 heading into the fourth after a fly-by corner 3-pointer at the buzzer by Nuni Omot.

But, Serbia’s 3-pointers just kept on coming as they were able to quell any comeback effort of the African team in the final frame.

A layup by Nikola Jovic broke the 30-point threshold with 1:14 remaining in the game.

A Dusan Ristic 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining settled the final score, 115-83.

Serbia made 17 of their 32 three point attempts, good for 53.1%

They were able to make 42 of their 68 total field goal attempts, equivalent to 61.8% shooting.

Miami Heat’s Jovic led Serbia with 25 points on a perfect 9-of-9 shooting. Atlanta Hawk Bogdan Bogdanovic followed suit with 23 markers.

South Sudan was led by Dut Kacuol with 21 points.

The African team’s NBA players, Wenyen Gabriel and Carlik Jones, only had a combined seven points with four and three markers, respectively.

South Sudan can still reach the second round of the tournament if China beats Puerto Rico by less than 35 points.