By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Serbia banked on a strong second quarter outburst to defeat Lithuania, 87-68, in their 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup quarterfinals encounter at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on Tuesday night, September 5.

Bogdan Bogdanovic top-scored with 21 points, including two three-pointers, to go with four rebounds, three assists and two steals as the Serbians punched a semis seat against the winner of the Canada-Slovenia quarterfinals.

Filip Petrusev added 17 markers, with three outside conversions, while Stefan Jovic also netted three three-point connections to end up with 11 markers along with five assists for Serbia.

Down 24-25 after the first 10 minutes, the Serbians rode on the torrid shooting of Bogdanovic and inside conversions from Nikola Milutinov as they established a 49-38 halftime lead.

The Serbians widened the lead further in the second half as Jovic and Petrusev also got their outside shots to fall as the lead grew to as high as 22 points at 79-57 midway in the fourth quarter.

Tadas Sedekerskis finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, Rokas Jokubaitis added 13 points and nine assists, while Jonas Valanciunas and Ignas Brazdeikis ended with 11 each for Lithuania.

Meanwhile, the United States men’s basketball team vented its ire on Italy with a 100-63 domination to advance to the semifinals round against the winner of the Germany-Latvia knockout game.

Team USA went to work early behind Jalen Brunson and Brandon Ingram for a 24-14 first quarter lead. Mikal Bridges took over for the Americans in the second period as they padded the lead to 46-24 at the half.

The Americans continued their offensive onslaught in the second half with Bridges and Tyrese Haliburton connecting on their three-point baskets as the lead reached its biggest at 100-60 on a basket by Walker Kessler.

Bridges top-scored for Team USA with 24 points, including four three-point conversions. Haliburton connected with six treys to end up with 18 markers, while Austin Reaves chipped in with 12 markers.

SERBIA 87 — Bogdanovic 21, Petrusev 17, S. Jovic 11, Milutinov 9, Guduric 9, N. Jovic 8, Avramovic 8, Davidovac 2, Marinkovic 1, Ristic 1, Dobric 0.

LITHUANIA 68 — Sedekerskis 14, Jokubaitis 13, Valanciunas 11, Brazdeikis 11, Normantas 8, Kuzminskas 6, Dimsa 3, Motiejunas 2, Maldunas 0, Kariniauskas 0, Sirvydis 0.

Quarterscores: 24-25, 49-28, 73-55, 87-68./ASC, WDJ