FIBA World Cup: Just like that, 4 quarterfinalists; Day 7 takeaways

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(Photo by Zhong Zhi/Getty Images) /

Call it Seeding Sunday in the FIBA World Cup, as wins by all 4 unbeaten teams in action Friday assured all of them berths in the quarterfinals.

Four teams entered second-round group play at the FIBA World Cup with unbeaten records. Those four teams ended play on Friday still without a loss and all four will advance to the quarterfinals.

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When play in Groups I and J concludes on Sunday, it will be about seeding for the quarterfinals as Poland and Argentina, the 4-0 teams in Group I, will meet. Spain and Serbia, the remaining 4-0 teams in Group J, will be the other important game on Sunday.

Three of those four teams are among the top five in the FIBA World Rankings. Spain entered the tournament at No. 2, Serbia was ranked fourth and Argentina is at No. 5.

The surprise continues to be Poland, which came back from 11 points down in the first half to knock Russia out of championship contention with a 79-74 victory in Group I.

Poland is ranked No. 25 in the world, with Russia coming into the tournament at No. 10, so Cinderella is wearing red-and-white at this year’s ball.

The Poles trailed most of the game, taking their first lead of the second half when Adam Waczynski nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 8:19 remaining, part of an 11-1 run by Poland to open the fourth quarter.

Russia tied the game on a 3-pointer from Evgenii Baburin with 3:28 to go and got it back to a 3-point game on a three-point play by Andrey Vorontsevich with 13 seconds left, but Waczynski iced it with a pair of free throws.

Spain, meanwhile, survived a tough test from Italy with a 67-60 victory.

Italy played outstanding interior defense against the Spaniards, holding Marc Gasol of the Toronto Raptors to just two points, but Spain held Italy to just 35 percent shooting and kept the Italians scoreless for nearly four minutes late in the fourth quarter while outscoring them 10-0 over that span.

Danilo Gallinari of the Oklahoma City Thunder dropped in a 3-pointer to put Italy ahead 56-52 with 4:21 remaining. But by the time Daniel Hackett knocked down a pair of free throws for Italy’s next points, there were just 24 seconds remaining and Spain held a six-point lead.

Argentina, meanwhile, overmatched South American rival Venezuela in an 87-67 victory.

Serbia, however, continued to look like the best team in the tournament, hammering Puerto Rico 90-47.

Bogdan Bogdanovic of the Sacramento Kings had been Serbia’s scoring star in the first round, but he was a non-factor with five points on 1-of-8 shooting.

It didn’t matter, as five Serbians scored in double-figures to overwhelm the Puerto Ricans.

In classification round play, Nigeria beat Ivory Coast 83-66 and China topped Korea 77-73 in Group M play in Guangzhou, ensuring both teams will advance to the playoff for places 17-24.

Nnamdi Vincent led Nigeria with 15 points, Ike Diogu had nine rebounds and Michael Eric blocked three shots. For Ivory Coast, Deon Thompson went for 19 points and nine boards.

China outscored Korea 9-2 over the final 1:23 after the Koreans had taken a 71-70 lead thanks to a free throw following a technical foul on Zhao Rui.

Rui and Guo Aliun scored 16 points each for China, while Zhou Qi had 13 points and 14 rebounds. Fang Shuo had three steals. Guna Ra led Korea with 21 points, 12 rebounds and four steals.

In Group N at Beijing, Iran got its first win of the tournament, 71-62 over Angola (1-3), while Tunisia (2-2) eliminated the Philippines (0-4), 86-67.

Mohammadsamad Nik Khahbahrami scored 21 points to lead Iran. Carlos Morais had 17 points for Angola, while Jose Antonio finished with 10 points and four steals.

Omar Abada paced Tunisia with 16 points, Salah Mejri notched 12 points and 12 rebounds and Makram Ben Romdhane added 10 points and three steals. For the Philippines, Andray Blatche had 24 points and 11 rebounds.