US beat Italy to reach Basketball World Cup semis

AFP | London

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The United States rebounded from their first defeat of the Basketball World Cup to book their place in the semi-finals with a resounding 100-63 win over Italy yesterday.

The Americans put their second-round loss to Lithuania firmly in their rearview mirror with a dynamic quarter-final performance to set up a showdown with either Germany or Latvia on Friday.

Mikal Bridges led the US in scoring with 24 points, and the Brooklyn Nets small forward also pulled down 7 rebounds.

Tyrese Haliburton was the winning team’s second-highest scorer with 18 points, followed by Austin Reaves on 12.

The US stamped their authority on the game from the first tip, and were 10 points ahead by the end of the first quarter.

Their lead grew to 22 by the end of a first half that saw crowd favourite Reaves provide a highlight with a massive rebound dunk.

Italy came into the game with the same 4-1 win-loss record as the US but their shooting touch deserted them, making only 23 of 75 field-goal attempts.

Simone Fontecchio was Italy’s top scorer with 18 points, followed by Stefano Tonut on 11.

Serbia advanced to the semi-finals earlier in the day with an 87-68 win over Lithuania.

Germany play Latvia and Canada take on Slovenia on the second day of quarter-finals on Wednesday.