MOSCOW, September 18 (RIA Novosti) - Serbia came back from behind to defeat Russia 79-68 in the FIBA European Basketball Championship quarterfinal in Poland, and will face Slovenia or Croatia in the semis on Friday.

Serbia recovered from a 24-21 deficit against the reigning champions on Thursday night, with a 17-0 run in the second quarter.

Serbia's Guard Uros Tripkovic was the top scorer with 18 points, while center Kosta Perovic racked up 13, almost all in the second quarter.

Russia's top scorers were Vitalii Fridzon with 15 points and Sergey Monya with 12.

Speaking after the match, Russian team coach David Blatt said: "There are some games when you can come and make statements and excuses. But this was one not of them. They dominated in every category. It was pretty clear who was the better team today."

"Serbia pretty much did what they wanted against anything we did. And we couldn't handle the things they threw at us in the second quarter."