FIBA World Cup Day 4: Goran Dragic, Slovenia Stay Unbeaten

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Eloy Vargas had a double-double as the Dominican Republic held off Finland Tuesday. (FIBA photo) /

Group C at Bilbao

Dominican Republic 74, Finland 68
The Dominican Republic took a big step toward advancing to the round of 16, improving to 2-1 in Group C play with a win over Finland, which fell to 1-2.

The Dominicans got out to a 41-32 halftime lead and led by 10, 60-50, entering the fourth.

The Finns made a run, however, getting to within 68-65 with 1:13 to go on a 3-pointer by Petteri Koponen.

With 49 seconds to play, Manuel Fortuna knocked down a pair of big free throws to make it a two-possession game once again and Finland’s last chance clanked off the rim when Sasu Salin missed a 3-pointer with 42 seconds to go.

Eloy Vargas had a big game for the Dominican Republic, finishing with 18 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots. Francisco Garcia of the Houston Rockets added 16 points, Eulis Baez added 12 points and nine boards and James Feldeine had 10 points and six assists.

The Domincans were able to overcome 23 turnovers to just nine by the Finns, in part because they hit 26-of-54 (48.1 percent) from the floor, compared to 25-for-70 (35.7 percent) for Finland. The Domincan Republic also out-rebounded the Finns 49-28.

Koponen paced Finland with 23 points and nine assists and Gerald Lee had six rebounds to go with eight points.

Ukraine 64, Turkey 58
After finishing second at the 2010 FIBA World Championships, Turkey finds itself on the bubble to even escape group play after falling to 1-2 with a loss to Ukraine, which improved to 2-1.

The game was tight throughout, with Ukraine opening a little breathing room early in the fourth quarter on back-to-back baskets by Viacheslav Kravtsov and Olexandr Mishula that put them up 45-39 a minute into the period.

Turkey twice got the lead down to one, cutting it to 46-45 on a jumper by Emir Preldzic with six minutes to go, but Ukraine answered with a layup by Ihor Zaytsev.

Moments later, Oguz Savas found a lane and his layup made it a one-point game once more.

Ukraine, however, scored the next five points on a jumper from Maksym Pustozvonov and a big 3-pointer from Zaytsev with 3:57 to go that put Ukraine ahead 53-47.

Mishula scored 19 points for Ukraine, Zaytsev added 12 points and Eugene Jeter finished with 10 points and six assists. Kravtsov had seven rebounds and scored five points.

Omer Asik of the New Orleans Pelicans had a huge game, scoring 16 points and hauling down 20 rebounds for Turkey. Preldzic added 14 points and seven boards.

It was not a thing of aesthetic beauty—Ukraine shot just 37.5 percent (24-for-64) and Turkey hit only 36.5 percent (19-for-52).

Group C Standings (with point differential)
USA 3-0 (+107)
Ukraine 2-1 (+11)
Dominican Republic 2-1 (+9)
Turkey 1-2 (-24)
Finland 1-2 (-60)
New Zealand 0-3 (-43)
Wednesday in Group C
New Zealand vs. Ukraine, 9 a.m.
Turkey vs. Finland, 11:30 a.m.
Dominican Republic vs. USA, 3:30 p.m.