Game Hero: Zoran Dragic stole the keys to the Slovenian motor from his brother Goran and led the home side's attack with 23 points to go along with nine rebounds and two steals.
Stats Don't Lie: Serbia made just one field goal in Slovenia's 28-4 run and the hosts held Serbia to just 37.5% shooting for the game including just 2-for-18 (11.1%) from long range. Slovenia hit 41.4% of their shots overall and 40.7% from beyond the three-point stripe.
EuroBasket 2013 hosts Slovenia bounced back from their disappointing quarter-final loss to France to ease past Serbia 92-74 and move into the fifth-place game while also qualifying for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Additionally, the Slovenes now earn direct qualification to EuroBasket 2015 in Ukraine.
Zoran Dragic took charge of the Slovenian attack and collected 23 points to go along with nine rebounds and two steals as the host side dominated the game throughout. Goran Dragic and Bostjan Nachbar both added 15 points for the winners.
"The game was very tough for us, we only had 14 hours to prepare but we played together a great game, we played like we must play on defence, very well on offence too and fortunately we won the game," said Zoran Dragic.
"The preparation for this game was very difficult because there was only 14 hours between the game against France and this one. No one slept last night, three of four of our players had minor injuries. it was very, very difficult. I want to congratulate my players for their excellent defence. It was not easy to play like that against an excellent Serbian team," added coach Bozidar Maljkovic.
Serbia were paced by 16 points from Nenad Krstic with Djordje Gagic adding 12 points and six rounds.
"We lost the game in the first quarter and the first half. They scored 30 points in the first quarter and 53 in the first half. Our defence had no reaction. It was like watching two teams playing at two different speeds," said Serbia coach Dusan Ivkovic.
"The second half was much better. The team was close to getting the game back. But it was difficult after they led by 20 points."
Serbia have one final chance to qualify directly to Spain 2014 in the seventh-place game on Saturday.
The opponents for Slovenia and Serbia will be determined Friday in the 5-8 classification game.
Stefan Markovic started the game for Serbia while Nebojsa Joksimovic was in the first five for Slovenia after both players had missed the quarter-finals. Serbia got off to a good start with a 6-2 lead. But then the Serbs went cold from the field combined with a strong Slovenian defence.
Serbia made just one basket over a 6:47 minute stretch in watching Slovenia use a 26-4 run — with four three-pointers — to take a 28-10 advantage. Gagic helped the Serbs find a bit more rhythm with two baskets over the rest of the quarter to make it 30-17 after 10 minutes.
After a Jure Balazic triple started the second quarter for the hosts, Serbia reeled off seven straight points to close within 10 points at 33-23. The Dragic combo proved too much for the Serbs to deal with as Slovenia worked the advantage back up to 53-35 after two quarters.
The Slovenian lead swelled to 23 points at 60-37 before Serbia went on a 9-0 run and eventually cut the deficit to 13 points at 64-51. Slovenia fended off Serbia with the Dragics on the bench for the rest of the quarter and had the lead back to 71-55 after three quarters.
The hosts remained in control though the Serbs got the gap to 15 points on Bogdan Bogdanovic's triple to make it 81-66. But Goran Dragic would not let his team give this game up, scoring 10 straight points for the team and pushing the advantage to 23 points at 91-68.