By REYNALD MAGALLON
Luka Doncic and Slovenia ended their 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup campaign on a high note, holding off a stubborn Italy side, 89-85, to claim the seventh place in the final standings at the Mall of Asia Arena on Saturday, Sept. 9.
Doncic and company seemed to be on the verge of another collapse after squandering a 10-point lead in the final frame before Jakob Cebasek nailed the go-ahead triple from the left corner to help Slovenia avoid a winless run in the final phase in Manila.
Doncic poured 14 of his 29 points in the third quarter when Slovenia built a double-digit spread that went to as high as 15 points.
The Dallas Maverick star, however, slowed down in the final frame when the Azzurri came back roaring with a 12-3 opening spurt that closed a 60-70 gap to 72-73.
Italy stayed within striking distance from there before unloading a 7-0 attack to suddenly take the lead, 85-83, following a booming triple from Marco Spissu with 1:04 left.
Doncic, who flirted with a triple-double with 10 rebounds and eight assists, found a wide open Cebasek for the clutch triple to put Slovenia back ahead.
The Azzurri still had the chance to tie the game in the next possession but Spissu’s pass to an open Simone Fontecchio went a little too low resulting in a turnover.
Mike Tobey and Zoran Dragic provided support with 12 and 10 points respectively.
Spissu paced the Italians with 22 while Fontecchio added 17 but were not enough to give veteran Luigi Datome a fitting swan song in the international stage.
The scores:
Slovenia (89) – Doncic 29, Tobey 12, Dragic 10, Dimec 8, Prepelic 7, Nikolic 7, Cebasek 6, Hrovat 5, Glas 3, Samar 2
Italy (85) – Spissu 22, Fontecchio 16, Polonara 13, Ricci 11, Spagnolo 6, Melli 6, Tonut 4, Procida 3, Pajola 3, Datome 1, Severini 0, Diouf 0
Quarterscores: 15-18, 42-41, 70-60, 89-85