FIBA Men U19: Four remain unblemished

FIBA Men U19

Croatia’s Daria Saric heads to the paint on his way to the basket against Argentina in the FIBA Men U19 on Monday.

After four games in the FIBA Men U19 World Championships, four clubs remain unbeaten, as Lithuania, Serbia, Spain and the United States have set aside all challengers thus far. The four set up a possible final day on Wednesday where Lithuania will take on Spain in Group E and the US will square off against Serbia. On Tuesday Lithuania meets 3-1 Croatia, Serbia plays 3-1 China, Spain matches up with 1-3 Argentina, and the US will hit the hardwood against 2-2 Australia.

Dario Saric continued his on-floor domination of the tournament with his fourth straight double-double, turning in a 19P/18R performance in leading Croatia to a 4-0 record with an 85:63 win over Argentina. The win keeps Croatia just one game behind unbeaten Spain and Lithuania, with their next contest being against the Lithuanians on Tuesday and then finish their round on Wednesday with Iran, who is currently 1-3.

Lithuania picked up their fourth win with a huge 82:76 come-from-behind win over Canada. The Canadians had built a 31:12 advantage in the second frame and still held a 12-point margin midway through the third, only to have the Lithuanians go on a 32:10 run as the contest wrapped up to get up by as many as 10 in the fourth. Tournament scoring leader Tyler Ennis McIntrye of Canada dropped 28 to bump his average to 24.9ppg. The loss drops Canada to 1-3 and in a three-way tie with Argentina and Iran in the battle for the final spot in the Group to move on to the quarter-finals.

Spain handled Iran 69:59, to improved to 4-0 in Group E, while Iran dropped to 1-3.

The United States won their fourth contest and improved their point differential to 208 over four games with a 25-point win, 91:66, over Brazil, who drop to 1-3 and tied with Russia for the bottom position in Group F.

Serbia improved their record to 4-0 with a 60:46 win over Russia.

China moved to 3-1 and stayed a single game behind the US and Serbia in Group F with an 88:79 win over Australia, who dropped to 2-2.

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