Serbia advances, ousts Dominican Republic

MANILA, Philippines – Serbia is now on to the final phase of the FIBA World Cup after demolishing the Dominican Republic, 112-79 Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Serbia started the game with guns blazing, with Vanja Marinkovic opening with a 3-pointer.

It set the tone for the rest of the game as Serbia’s 3-point shooting and ball movement became too much for the Dominican Republic.

They led by as much as 18 points in the first quarter, 29-11.

The lead grew to as much as 38 points as Serbia continued its hot shooting and swarming defense.

Karl-Anthony Towns and Jean Montero tried to bring the Dominican Republic back with their own 3-pointers, but they were not able to shut down the extraordinary offense of the Serbians.

Dominican Republic's Andres Feliz was ejected in the third quarter after garnering two technical fouls with 2:26 remaining.

Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 20 points to lead five other Serbians in double-figures.

Towns bannered Dominican Republic with 25 points.

With the win, Serbia is off to the quarterfinals of the tournament with a 4-1 win-loss slate. They are joining Italy in the final phase as the top two teams of Group I.

Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are eliminated from the tournament. 

They will be ranked in ninth to 16th, along with the bottom teams of the other groups.