ITALY yesterday moved a step closer to the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Foshan yesterday thanks to a 92-61 win over Angola.

Marco Belinelli led all scorers with 17 points, Awdu Abassi, Daniel Hackett and Jeff Brooks contributed 11 points apiece as the Italians secured their second straight Group D victory.

Meanwhile, Carlos Morais, Yanick Moreira and Leonel Paulo — the Angolans to score in double digits — combined for 37 points, but it wasn’t good enough to avoid their second straight defeat.

Angola led Italy 5-3 early in the game, but Danillo Galinari had seen enough, responding with a succession of four points to put the Italians in front 7-5. And although Angola managed to tie the game at 8-all from a Gerson Domingos’ three-pointer, Carlos Morais’s turnover resulted in Paul Biligha’s thunderous dunk, giving Italy the lead, and they never trailed again.

Italy went on to lead by as many as 35 points.

Player of the Game Brooks didn’t score his first points until midway through the second quarter. But when he hit his first field goal, he never looked back. He was so efficient on both ends of the floor that his 11 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks spoke louder than anything else.

Angola’s leading scorer Carlos Morais struggled for most of the first half, finishing with zero points. His lack of production reflected massively on Angola’s second defeat in as many games. But perhaps the most damaging aspect of Angola’s loss came from their ball mishandling. Turning the ball over six times, which resulted in eight Italy points in the first half proved costly to them.

With the win Italy got closer to Wuhan’s second round Group J, where they would go up against the two teams that finish in the first two places of Group C, which consists of Spain, Tunisia, Iran and Puerto Rico.(FIBA)