MANILA, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Canada, Latvia, Germany, the Dominican Republic, Montenegro and Lithuania all collected their second consecutive wins in their respective groups at the FIBA World Cup on Sunday.
RJ Barrett scored 17 points in 20 minutes to lead nine Canadian players in double digits as they overpowered Lebanon 128-73 in Jakarta, Indonesia for a second straight win in Group H.
Canada head coach Jordi Fernandez attributed the big win to his players' unselfish way of playing as they combined for 44 assists.
"We played together and shared the basketball. 44 assists to 15 turnovers is a record in the World Cup. It just shows that sharing is caring and these guys were ready to play the right way, play with a pass," said Fernandez.
"Sometimes in games like these teams have the tendency to do it on their own and dribble too much. I'm proud of these guys for doing it the right way."
Also in Group H, Latvia overcame France 88-86 to join Canada in the second round with two wins in two games, with France being sent to the 17th-32nd classifications after two straight losses.
Dennis Schroder notched 30 points, eight assists and four steals and Maodo Lo added 20 from the bench as Germany edged Australia 85-82 in Okinawa, Japan for their second win in as many games in Group E.
Schroder had a layup to give Germany an 83-81 lead with 46 seconds remaining. Josh Giddey made one of his two free throws 15 seconds later to pull Australia within 83-82, but Lo added two points with another layup with two seconds to go to seal the victory for Germany.
"I think those are moments when other players have to be aggressive and try to step up a little bit, so I was just trying to be a little more aggressive. It worked out for me today, and I was able to help the team. I'm happy about that," said Lo after the match.
In the other Group E match, Japan upset Finland 98-88 for their first win in two games, while the Finns suffered their second loss in a row. Germany has secured its berth in the top 16, with Australia and Japan to fight for the other ticket to the second round from Group E.
In Manila, the Dominican Republic made 16 three-pointers on its way to an 87-82 triumph over Italy in Group A. Karl-Anthony Towns and Andres Feliz had 24 points apiece as the Dominicans defeated Italy after losing their only previous match-up 79-59 in the semifinals of the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament in Belgrade in 2020.
"I'm super happy for us. It was amazing. I mean it's huge. We came in and won. Our country has been yearning for these moments, and I'm glad we're able to give it," said Towns.
Marco Spissu had 17 points to lead the Italians, who shot 7-for-29 before slipping to a 1-1 win-loss record.
Also in Group A, Angola beat the Philippines 80-70 to improve to 1-1, while the Philippines has yet to find a win.
In Sunday's other action, Montenegro breezed past Egypt 89-74 and Lithuania outgunned Mexico 96-66 in Group D. Having won two matches in a row and secured their berths in the round of 16, Montenegro and Lithuania will vie for top spot in the group on Tuesday.
32 teams are playing round-robin preliminaries in eight groups, with the top two finishers from each group advancing to the second round and the others to play 17th-32nd deciders.
