Croatia beats Italy 76-68 to reach quarterfinals of European basketball championship
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Croatia rallied with a big third quarter to reach the quarterfinals of the European basketball championship with a 76-68 victory over Italy on Saturday.
Croatia (3-1) trailed by 13 early in the game and was down by five at halftime but outscored Italy 26-9 — including a 10-0 run — in the third to go ahead for good, holding off a late Italian rally.
Shooting guards Bojan Bogdanovic and Krunoslav Simon had eight points each during the run and point guard Roko Leno Ukic scored six straight to spark Croatia's comeback.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Bogdanovic finished with 18 points and Simon had 14, while Luigi Datome had 24 for Italy (2-2).