Serbia, Spain, Italy and Turkey progress into knockout stage of EuroBasket

Unbeaten Serbia overcame Italy 101-82 to defend their top spot whereas Spain eliminated Germany 77-76 in a dramatic all-or-nothing clash and Turkey edged Iceland 111-102 in overtime to round off the last day in Group B of EuroBasket 2015 here on Thursday.

Serbia clinched the first place in Group B with a comfortable 101-82 victory over Italy to maintain their perfect 5-0 record after the group stage.

Even though Aleksandar Djordjevic's men had nothing to lose, they started highly motivated to pull away with an eight-point lead.

Italy needed three minutes to score their first points as Danilo Gallinari netted a three-point jump shot. As soon as Italy came close, Serbia increased the pressure to keep the Italians on distance. Therefore Serbia were able to close the first quarter with a six-point lead (25-19).

Italy turned up in the second quarter to reduce the gap to two points (27-29) but Serbia responded immediately and took an eight-point lead (48-40) into the break. However, the Serbians picked up the pace at the third quarter to rail away with a 15-point lead (74-59), which they extended to a 19-points gap (101-82) in the last quarter to seal the deal.

Milos Teodosic has large shares on Serbia's fifth victory by providing a game-high 26 points meanwhile Italy's top-scorer Alessandro Gentile donated 19 points.

Spain carved out their third win in a winner-takes-it-all encounter as they eliminated tournament hosts Germany 77-76 in a thrilling closing period.

Germany's top performer Dennis Schroeder, who scored a game-high 26 points, had the chance to level the scores with a three free throws (74-77) to go, but the Germans scored only two of three (76-77), which wasn't enough to force Spain in overtime.

Both sides staged an evenly balanced yet Spain were able to win the first quarter (20-18) and second quarter (41-38) narrowly. However, Germany's weak third quarter performance allowed the Spaniards to grab a 12-point advantage (60-48) before the start of the last frame.

The final quarter started other than expected as Germany piled on the pressure while Spain squandered a number of efforts under Germany's basket. As a result, Germany were able to fight back, reducing the arrears to one point (72-73) thanks to the three-pointer by Maodo Lo with 22 seconds remaining.

However, Spain kept their nerves and converted their free throws (77-74) with 7.9 seconds remaining meanwhile Germany's Dennis Schroeder netted only two (76-77) of his three awarded free throws in the dying seconds of the game.

"I had three free throws and made only two. I take the blame," Germany point guard Schroeder said after the defeat and group stage exit.

At the last game of Group B, resilient Iceland forced Tureky into overtime, where the Turks came out on top with a 111-102 victory.

Turkey caught a bright start into the encounter as they completed the first quarter with a seven-point lead (29-22). Iceland remained unfazed and bounced back to level the scores (47-47) with the halftime buzz.

Nevertheless, Turkey recovered after the restart and wrapped the third quarter with 74-67 just to see resilient Iceland restoring parity (91-91) in the final quarter. The Turks gained again the upper hand in overtime and outscored Iceland 20-11 (111-102) to earn their third win.

After the Thursday's results in Group B, Serbia completed the group stage atop the standings with 10 points, followed by Spain, Italy and Turkey with 8 points, Germany with 6 points and Iceland with 5 points.

The top four team advance into the round of the last 16 in Lille whereas Germany and Iceland crash out of the EuroBasket 2015 following the group stage. Endi