Luka Doncic and Slovenia are two victories at the Tokyo Olympics.
Doncic had 18 points and 10 assists, Klemen Prepelic scored 17 points and Slovenia rolled past Poland 112-77 on Thursday in Kaunas, Lithuania, and secured a place in the semi-finals of the Olympic qualifying tournament in that region on Saturday.
Slovenia (2-0) won their two games in the group game with a total of 85 points. It now has to win on consecutive days this weekend to qualify for Tokyo.
“Very happy, very satisfied, especially when I sit on the bench and see how the boys play, how they play – play together, fight together,” said Slovenian coach Aleksander Sekulic. “It’s really a pleasure for us coaches to see them play like that.”
Despite the defeat, Poland (1-1) also qualified for the semi-finals on Saturday.
Thursday was the last day of the group match at the four qualifying tournaments in Lithuania, Croatia, Serbia and Canada. No games are planned for Friday; two semi-finals in each region are scheduled for Saturday, and those winners will play on Sunday to determine the final four teams in the 12-team field for the Tokyo Olympics.
Mateusz Ponitka led Poland with 16 points.
“We didn’t play our best game,” said Poland coach Mike Taylor. “But we’re looking forward to the semi-finals. We have two games to pursue our dreams of getting to Tokyo.”
Poland will not have it easy: it will bring the host Lithuanians in the semi-finals. Slovenia face Venezuela (1-1) in the other semi-final in Kaunas.
LITHUANIA 96, SOUTH KOREA 57
Jonas Valanciunas led an even shot on goal with 15 points and Lithuania beat South Korea 53-26 – more than a 2-1 ratio – to secure their place in the semifinals.
Rokas Jokubaitis and Marius Grigonis each scored 13 points for Lithuania (2-0). Guna Ra scored 26 points for South Korea (0-2), who were eliminated.
VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA BRACKET
GREECE 105, CHINA 80
China’s nine consecutive Olympic Games in men’s basketball are over.
Giannoulis Larentzakis scored 21 points and Greece (1-1) never fell behind on the path to an easy win over China and a place in Saturday’s semi-finals against Turkey (2-0).
Zhou Qi scored 15 points for China (0-2).
CZECH REPUBLIC 80, URUGUAY 79
Tomas Satoransky scored 19 points, Jakub Sirina added 17 and the Czech Republic (1-1) made it to the semi-finals against Canada by beating Uruguay.
Bruno Fitipaldo and Jayson Granger each scored 22 points for Uruguay (0-2). Granger missed a 3-hand that would have been the winner in the final seconds.
SPLIT, CROATIA BRACKET
GERMANY 69, RUSSIA 67
Germany made up an early 10 point deficit to advance to the qualifying semi-finals in Croatia, eliminating Russia in the process.
Johannes Voigtmann scored 13 team points for Germany, including a jumper with 1:43 to go, in order to bring his team finally into the lead. Moritz Wagner scored 12 for Germany (2-0).
Andrey Vorontsevich scored 17 points for Russia (0-2), which led 17-7 at the beginning of the third quarter and 53:45 at the end of the third quarter, but stuttered offensively on the track.
Germany meets Croatia (1: 1) in the semifinals, and Brazil (2: 0) meets Mexico (1: 1) in the other semifinals in Split.
CROATIA 75, TUNISIA 70
The host country fought its way to the semi-finals by holding Tunisia 27 points behind Mario Hezonja.
Ante Zizic and Bojan Bogdanovic each scored 14 points for Croatia, who were one point behind in the final quarter but rallied to win the elimination game.
Radhouane Slimane scored 15 for Tunisia (0-2).
BELGRADE, SERBIA BRACKET
ITALY 90, PUERTO RICO 83
Italy used a 19-0 run in the second half to take command and eventually beat Puerto Rico in a clash of teams who already knew they would make it to Saturday’s semi-finals.
They were placed in Group B in Belgrade along with Senegal, who were unable to get to the tournament due to problems with positive coronavirus tests and travel restrictions. So Italy and Puerto Rico both received forfeited wins against Senegal, which meant they could play that weekend before the event even started.
Nico Mannion, Achille Polonara and Simone Fontecchio each scored 21 points for Italy. Gian Clavell led all scorers with 24 for Puerto Rico, which led at 17 late in the first half.
Italy (2-0, including the lost win) face the Dominican Republic (1-1), who secured their semi-finals with a victory over the Philippines. Puerto Rico (1: 1) will face Serbia (2: 0) in the second semi-final on Saturday.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 94, PHILIPPINES 67
Victor Liz scored 23 points, Gelvis Solano scored 21 and the Dominican Republic thoroughly controlled the second half to win a playoff and keep their Olympic hopes alive.
Liz made a 3-pointer just before the first half buzzer and brought the Dominicans to break within 41-39 in a very close opening of 20 minutes.
The second half was anything but close: The Dominicans defeated the Philippines in the last two quarters with 55:26.
Michael Cuevas added 20 for the Dominican Republic. Jordan Heading scored 10 for the Philippines (0-2) and Kakou Ange Franck Williams Kouame scored 10.
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