2018 Under-17 World Cup Day Two Recap
All the results and the best action on the second day of play of this year's Under-17 World Cup.
Group A
In the Central American clash, Dominican Republic played well from close range and on defence, but could not score as consistently as Puerto Rico, who were kept unbeaten in the group behind 29 points from Jermaine Perez. Meanwhile, it was the second game in a row Australia played in that was won in the last minute - only this time they were
Having led for most of the way, Turkey narrowed the double-digit gap in the second half and a layup from Omer Kucuk with thirty seconds left clinched them a memorable and dramatic victory.
Group C
Canada’s play in the paint and work on defence saw them lead Egypt by as many as 42 points. Egypt's Aly Khalifa and Canada's Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe both had double-doubles for their respective teams, but the victory would be Canada's, 93 to 53.
Either Montenegro or New Zealand were going to come away with their first-ever win in the tournament, and with fourteen from three-point range and Jovan Kljajic outshining everyone else on the floor, the maiden win would be Montenegro’s by 24 points.
Group B
Limiting much of Mali's chances and with great showings from the USA bench - in particular Jalen Green and Evan Mobley - it was the second successive dominant American win. The final score being 97-40 to the USA. Later on, Serbia took an early thirteen-point lead against China, who went on to cut the deficit and briefly take a third-quarter lead.
Jiao Boqiao was again the standout for China, he finished with 22 points and eight rebounds. Even so, Serbia upped their defence and play from close range to swing the advantage back in their favour, eventually going on to win by 73 points to 61.
Jiao Boqiao in the Serbian defence. Image: FIBA.com
Group D
After a tight start to the game, France started to pull away from Philippines just before half time. Philippines' Carl Tamayo led all scorers and rebounders with 19 points and 10 boards, but with rampant offence in the paint, the win would be France’s by 95 points to 54.
Argentina tired to avoid a second successive defeat, but they were out-rebounded and out-scored from the field by Croatia, who ran home to a comfortable 19-point victory in which Matej Rudan finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds for them.
Canada, Croatia, France, Serbia and the USA have so far lived up to expectations with unbeaten records, while also with two wins to their name, Puerto Rico have emerged as surprise packages of this tournament. Conversely, six teams are still without a win, while the final outcome of Group C looks hard to predict.
The final group games will be played on Tuesday, in which France and Croatia will battle it our for supremacy in their group, as will Serbia and the USA. Argentina will be seeking to record their first win when they take on Philippines, as will both China and Mali when they face off. Puerto Rico will also be looking to keep their win streak alive when they take on Australia.
