Serbia cruise to final in EuroBasket 2017

By Satuk Bugra Kutlugun and Kubra Chohan

ANKARA

Serbia defeated Russia 87-79 Friday night in Istanbul's Sinan Erdem Dome to reach the EuroBasket 2017 final.

A dominant display from the Serbians in the first half led the way to victory, with point guard Bogdan Bogdanovic scoring a team-high 24 points and dishing out four assists.

Center Boban Marjanovic was in form, scoring 18 points, pulling down six rebounds and giving four assists for an all-around performance.

For losing side Russia, point guard Alexey Shved's game-high 33 points and five assists were not enough to beat Serbia.

The final will be between Serbia and Slovenia, who defeated reigning champions Spain on Thursday night.

The match will start Sunday at 9.30 p.m. local time (1830GMT).

There will also be a third-place match between semifinal losers Russia and Spain. That match will start Sunday at 6.45 p.m. (1545GMT).