FIBA World Cup Quarterfinal: Serbia Blasts Brazil

Serbia is back in the semifinals of the FIBA World Cup for the fourth time since 1998 after blowing out Brazil in Madrid on Wednesday 84-56.

Serbia, which struggled to get out of the group stage, has cruised to two straight wins in the elimination phase of the tournament. The Serbs (4-3) knocked off previously unbeaten Greece in the round of 16 on Sunday, 90-72.

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This was a close game at the half, with Serbia holding a 37-32 lead, but it got out of hand in the third quarter as the Serbs took complete control.

The game swung early in the third quarter, when Anderson Varejao of the Cleveland Cavaliers was called for a foul against Serbia’s Miroslav Raduljica.

Tiago Splitter of the San Antonio Spurs and Marcus Vieira were each whistled for technical fouls in the ensuing argument over the call against Varejao and the Serbs turned it into a seven-point trip.

Raduljica made one of his two free throws before Teodosic sank all four of the technical shots. Teodosic helped cap the crucial possession with a nifty feed to Stefan Markovic for a layup that put the Serbs up 50-34.

That was part of a 21-6 run for Serbia, which pushed the lead to 20 points when Milos Teodosic banged home a 3-pointer with three minutes left in the period.

Leandro Barbosa of the Golden State Warriors made a layup for Brazil (5-2) as time expired in the quarter, but by that point, Serbia was up 66-44.

The game swung early in the third quarter, when Anderson Varejao of the Cleveland Cavaliers was called for a foul against Serbia’s Miroslav Raduljica.

Tiago Splitter of the San Antonio Spurs and Marcus Vieira were each whistled for technical fouls in the ensuing argument over the call against Varejao and the Serbs turned it into a seven-point trip.

It was a dramatic reversal from the teams’ first meeting in the group stage. Brazil beat Serbia 81-73 on Sept. 3.

Teodosic finished with 23 points and four assists for Serbia. Bogdan Bogdanovic added 12 points and two blocked shots while Nenad Krstic and Raduljica each finished with 10. Nemanja Bjelica finished with eight rebounds, five assists and eight points.

Varejao had 12 points and nine rebounds for Brazil and Vieira also scored 12 points. Marcelinho Huertas dished out nine assists and scored four points, Splitter had eight rebounds to go with three points and Nene of the Washington Wizards blocked two shots and scored four points.

Serbia will play the winner of the France-Spain quarterfinal in Barcelona on Friday.