Battling Latvia Fall To Serbia

Turning Point: Serbia's Dusko Savanovic grabbed an offensive rebound after two missed free-throws by Stefan Markovic and drew a foul before sinking two from the stripe for a 78-70 lead midway through the last quarter.

Game Hero: Savanovic had 19 points to help Serbia keep their noses in front, while Latvia center Rolands Freimanis (19pts) scored from everywhere and more than held his own against opposing centers Nenad Krstic and Kosta Perovic.

Stats Don't Lie: Serbia are deep and dangerous, with 11 of the team's 12 players having logged minutes and three quarters into the contest and scored points.

Serbia cleared another hurdle at the EuroBasket on Thursday with a 92-77 Group B triumph over Latvia.

Following up their win over Italy, the Serbians returned to the Siauliai Arena and started fast, going in front by 17 points in the first quarter.

However, Latvia, the youngest team in the competition, battled back behind 23-year-old power forward Rolands Freimanis to tie the game at 29-29 with 3:15 remaining in the first half.

Freimanis was inspirational, scoring 19 points and grabbing eight rebounds in the game.

Dusan Ivkovic's side, the silver-medal winners of 2009 in Poland, closed the second quarter strong with Ivan Paunic pouring in four points and Dusko Savanovic five and Serbia took a 38-33 lead to the changing rooms.

The Latvians kept the pressure on in the second half and after two free-throws by Latvia's Janis Strelnieks midway through the final period, the deficit was just 76-70.

Serbia wobbled, with Stefan Markovic missing twice from the charity stripe, but Dusko Savanovic grabbed the offensive rebound and then drew a foul while attacking the basket.

He sank both free-throws and the next trip down the floor for Serbia, Paunic scored to stretch the lead to 10.

Serbia pulled away over the last few minutes for a 92-77 victory.

"Today, we played against a team that played very tough and was very aggressive," Paunic said.

"Defense won this game."

Serbia coach Ivkovic said Latvia reminded him of his team a few years ago, when the country made a commitment to youth.

"Latvia coach (Ainars) Bagatskis has done a good job for basketball," Ivkovic said.

Nenad Krstic, the Serbia center, finished with 23 points and Savanovic walked off the court with 19 and five rebounds.

Milos Teodosic pulled the strings for most of the afternoon for Serbia. He had nine assists to go with nine points.

Quotes Latvia vs. Serbia

Latvia Head Coach Ainars Bagatskis:
"Serbia did not surprise us very much - they were playing modern, aggressive basketball that starts with intensive defense. Probably the only thing that surprised us was that they were even more aggressive than we expected. We had nothing to lose we just tried to show our best."

Latvia Forward Rolands Freimanis:
"Today we lost the game to one of the best teams in Europe. During the terrible first quarter Serbia punished us for every single turnover. They were more experienced but we are improving every second."

Serbia Head Coach Dusan Ivkovic:
"Latvia reminds me of my team two years ago. I want to point out that competition here is probably the strongest one in the history of EuroBasket. I think that we deserve this victory, because we have played very good basketball in this match."

Serbia Guard Ivan Paunic:
"Today we played against a very aggressive team, that's why a good start of the game was very important for us. A very good first quarter and tough defense helped us to achieve victory today."