In the 5th round of Group D’s first qualifying round for the World Cup, to be held in China in 2019, Croatia defeated Italy in Trieste 78-72 (21-24, 20-15, 24-13, 13-20).
The Croatian basketball team has achieved another victory in Group D of the first qualifying round for the World Cup!
Croatia, boosted by NBA players Bojan Bogdanovic, Dario Šarić and Ivica Zubac, overcame Italy 78:72. While their World Cup fate was unlikely until now, Croatia just needs to defeat Romania in Cluj in the last round to secure the second stage of qualifications, reports Gol.hr on June 28, 2018.
Croatia sealed the match in the third quarter when they were ahead by 11 points - but in the last 10 minutes, Croatia allowed Italy to close the gap from -17 to only six points behind with one minute and 45 seconds before the end. With only 22 seconds to go, Italy decreased Croatia’s lead even further for -4.
Thankfully, a complete turnaround by Italy did not happen.
Bojan Bogdanović was Croatia's leading scorer with 26 points, and also secured seven rebounds and six assists. Ivica Zubac added 12 points and four rebounds, while Dario Šarič scored nine baskets with a disastrous 2 out of 15 shots in play and eight rebounds.
After the most recent round of the first qualifying group, Italy leads with a 4-1 win and loss ratio, followed by the Netherlands, and Croatia and Romania with 2-3.
In the last round on Sunday, Croatia will be the guest of Romania in Cluj at 18:00, while Holland will host Italy at Groningen. The match against Romania is scheduled on Sunday at 18.00. Earlier on Thursday, the Netherlands overcame Romania 77:52.
In the second round of qualifications, the top three teams from each group move forward.
