Stellar Bogdanovic lifts Croatia over Ukraine in crucial game for Group C standings / News - Basketnews.com

Bojan Bogdanovic posted 27 points to help Croatia potentially avoid Serbia in the next EuroBasket phase.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Croatia (3-2) won a hard-fought battle against Ukraine (3-2) in Group C, 90-85 (21-21, 24-21, 22-25, 23-18), with both teams potentially avoiding Serbia (No. 1 seed in Group D) in the Round of 16.

Ukraine will most likely finish second in Group C, while Croatia will be third. Italy, which will play a final game against outsider Great Britain later tonight, will rank fourth. Greece is first without a possibility to move down.

With 27 seconds left on the clock, Bojan Bogdanovic scored a two-pointer with a foul to increase the Croatians' lead to 7 points (80-73). The Utah Jazz player had a chance to build an 8-point advantage that would have allowed the Croatians to finish in second place, but missed the free throw.

Ukraine scored two points in their last attack and potentially secured second place in Group C.

Bogdanovic dropped 27 points (4/11 2PT, 4/5 3PT, 7/9 FT) for the winners, adding 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 3 steals, and 28 EFF.

Volodymyr Herun was an X-factor for Ukraine, registering 21 points (9/10 2PT, 3/3 FT), 6 rebounds, 1 assist, and 27 EFF.

Croatia: Bojan Bogdanovic 21 (7 REB), Dominik Mavra 13, Krunoslav Simon 11 (6 REB), Karlo Markovic 10 (6 REB), Ivica Zubac 10 (8 REB).

Ukraine: Volodymyr Herun 21 (6 REB), Bogdan Bliznyuk 16 (8 REB), Svi Mykhailiuk 14 (5 REB), Issuf Sanon 11.

Group C as it stands:

Pos Team GM W L PPG PPG A Diff STR L5 1 Greece 4 4 0 91.5 80.5 11 +4 ++++ 2 Croatia 5 3 2 82.0 78.0 4 +1 +-++- 3 Ukraine 5 3 2 82.4 79.2 3.2 -2 --+++ 4 Italy 4 2 2 79.5 76.8 2.8 +1 +--+ 5 Estonia 4 1 3 74.8 73.0 1.8 +1 +--- 6 Great Britain 4 0 4 66.3 90.8 -24.5 -4 ---- Thank you for reading us! We have even more content for you.