An outstanding final game in Group D saw Croatia record an 88-73 win over Germany for a place in the next round.

A large crowd gathered in the arena long before Spain’s game with Serbia to cheer on the Croatian side for the second day in a row.

		Philipp Schwethelm had 14 points for Germany in their loss to Croatia.

And Croatia responded to the support by putting on an impressive show to record their first win of the tournament and qualify for the next round.

Filip Kruslin impressed yet again, and was treated to a standing ovation when he left the court with 1:30 left in the game after scoring 29 points.

Also impressive were Karlo Vragovic with 24 points and Marino Sarlija with a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds.

As the game started it looked like Germany were set to run up their second big score in as many days as they dominated in the first quarter.

Solid play by Philipp Schwethelm stood out again in offence, whilst in defence Maurice Stuckey pulled down 10 of his side’s 16 rebounds.

There was time for another of yesterday’s big performers, Elias Harris, to down an impressive dunk before the quarter ended with Germany in front 25-15.

But Croatia responded in stunning style in the second and the Germans just seemingly stopped playing.

Some tough play and sharp shooting resulted in a run of 15-0 and a total haul of 34 points to end the half in front 49-44.

Kruslin was now running the show for Croatia racking up an exceptional 15 points through a string of shots from beyond the arc.

In the third Croatia continued their classy display.

		Croatia's Karlo Vragovic had 24 points in the critical win.

Schwethelm and Harris continued to play well, but the German defence had no answer for Kruslin who scored another 10 points including a crowd pleasing steal and dunk with 45 seconds left.

By this point Croatia had seemingly done enough to pass Slovenia and qualify for the next round, but they never took their foot of the gas and continued the show for their new fans.

At the final buzzer an ecstatic Croatia ran to each stand to cheer the crowd, who responded with chants of “Cro-at-ia” and “Biiiiiilan, Biiiiiilan” for Croatia forward Miro Bilan.

“He’s a phenomenon” said one group of fans, who had come complete with cards spelling out the forwards name.

“He’s great, and of course Croatia has a great affinity with the people of Guadalajara, you know!”

The attention was not lost on Bilan, who said “they really helped us, it’s great”.

“When they sing my name my heart wants to explode!”

Both sides will now go on to the next stage with group leaders Lithuania, who earlier beat Slovenia 70-59 in a routine victory.

Krivaca za ovako loše rezultate ima dosta, počevši od samih klubova. Naime niti jedan od ovih igrača neće moći zaigrati ove sezone nešto osobiti u seniorskoj selekciji jer jednostavno nisu do kraja izrađeni igrači. Za razliku od Srbije kojoj će barem petorica već sad slobodno moći boriti se sa starijima. Naši igrači ovdje zaostaju par godina, i to ponajprije na taktičko-trkačkom planu. Tu  bi trebalo izostaviti igrače Splita, koji su tu ipak otišli dalje od ostalih, ali na hrvatsku žalost Kunce je ovdje pretpostavio osobne interese i stavio 4 igrača Dubrovnika a samo jednog Splita, što mu zbilja ne služi na čast. No on i ne kuži gdje leže njegovi problemi, nego naivno čeka da mu proigraju šuteri. A ti njegovi šuteri protiv Španjolske i Srbije neće imati niti jedan otvoreni šut.

Vrijeme je da se u savezu konačno maknu ovi neradnici i neznalice, i da se prestane davati mlade reprezentacije ovakvim promašenim stručnjacima u ruke. Fino dogodine U18 dati Jusupu u ruke ali uz kvalitetnu podršku, a ne ovako prosipati ugled naše košarke. Što je najžalosnije o ovoj katastrofi šute svi naši košarkaški djelatnici valjda bojeći se Radićeve kazne.