FIBA Under 19 World Championship: Semi-Finals

Iran-Argentina 79-68
Iran gets his second win, beating Argentina for the second time and finishing in eleventh place. Argentina shoots poorly from deep (3/26), goes only 15 times at the free throw line against Iran's 28 and is outrebounded 32-46. The Asian team has no trouble at all in the fourth quarter, after a 20-point lead built up in the first three.
Iran has 26 points from Mashayekhi and 18 from Yakhchalidehkordi, Argentina has 20 points from Vaulet and 17 from point guard Pedro Barral.

Russia-Brazil 60-53
Ninth place goes to Russia, which holds Brazil to 29% from the field: Deryk Ramos scores from beyond the arc, cutting the Russian lead to 3 with 39 seconds on the clock, but Kulagin answers with a basket with 16 seconds remaining. Ramos and Kulagin are the game's top scorers: the former has 20 points and 7 rebounds, the latter has 19 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals.
So this is the final ranking after Iranian and Russian wins: 16) Senegal 15) Cote d'Ivoire 14) Czech Republic 13) Korea 12) Argentina 11) Iran 10) Brazil 9) Russia.

Spain-Croatia 75-64
Classification round goes on with Spain beating Croatia again and avoiding the seventh or eighth spots. Dominik Mavra is out for Croatia, a bad news for a team that hasn't a deep roster. Mississippi's recruit Sebastian Saiz has 16 points and 16 rebounds (10 on the offensive end) for Spain, while Dario Saric finishes with 20 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 6 turnovers for Croatia.

China-Canada 100-110 (3OT)
An unbelievable game: Canada, without Lyles and Notice, wins a 55-minutes battle and will face Spain tomorrow. In the fourth quarter, Chris Egi blocks Qi Zhou and Ennis scores what appears to be the final basket, but Zhou again incredibly ties the game; the Chinese center is always the man in first overtime, blocking Ennis' shot with 9 seconds on the clock; then, in second overtime, is Shang Gao who ties the game with a three, after a 1/2 from the free throw line from Ennis; in third overtime Canada steals the game thanks to another three, this time from Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who give them a 6-point lead with less than a minute on the clock after an offensive board from Marko Pirovic.
China has 30 points from Shuai Yuan, 20 from Shang Gao and 20 with 14 rebounds and 9 blocks from Qi Zhou, while Canada has 42 points and 8 rebounds from Tyler Ennis.

Australia-Serbia 58-63
Australia struggles a lot against Serbia, a more physical team, but with a good defensive effort in the second half almost steals the win: Exum misses two free throws with 15 seconds on the clock and his team down by 2. The Aussies shoot only 5/13 overall from the free throw line, and are outrebounded 24-42 by the bigger Serbian frontcourt.
Exum anyway plays a really outstanding game, finishing with 21 points and 4 assists, with Felix Kalau von Hofe adding two clutch threes in the final minute. Jankovic dominates the paint for Serbia, finishing with 20 points and 16 rebounds, while Micic adds 13 points and 8 assists, being the major factor in second quarter's run (21-7).

USA-Lithuania 100-60
The other semifinal is a blowout: USA shoot 60% from the field and 50% from deep range, holding the Lithuanian shooters to 36% from the floor and outrebounding them 42-26. Game is already over after the first half, with a 21-point lead from USA. Marcus Smart has 18 points in 18 minutes, while no one scores in double-figures for Lithuania (Dimsa and Tarolis have 9 points apiece).