Croatia breezes past Finland 88-63 in 2nd round of European basketball championship

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia – Croatia used its size to rout Finland 88-63 Thursday for its first victory in the second round of the European basketball championships.

Croatia's big men dominated the boards as the team pulled down 47 rebounds, while Finland finished with 30.

Damjan Rudez made 5 of 8 3-point attempts and finished with 17 points. Center Damir Markota had 11 rebounds and shooting guard Bojan Bogdanovic scored 15. .

Croatia's defense shut down Finland's top scorer Petteri Koponen, whose first points came when he made a 3-pointer at the buzzer of the third quarter. He finished with five points. Shawn Huff was the only Finland player to score in double digits with 10.