Five reigning EuroLeague champs were among Sunday's winners
EuroLeague champs help Greece, Spain advance to Olympic Games
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With nine players from the 2024 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four on the roster – another who was a VIP guest in Berlin for the championship games - Greece claimed a spot at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris with a 69-80 victory over Croatia in the final of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Piraeus. Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo shined with 23 points and 8 rebounds to lead Greece, while Nick Calathes, who moved from Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul to AS Monaco this summer, added 14 points and 11 assists. Fenerbahce center Georgios Papagiannis scored 19 for the winners.
Four freshly crowned EuroLeague champions – Kostantinos Mitoglou, Panagiotis Kalaitzakis, Kostas Antetokounmpo and Dimitris Moraitis – will have a chance to fight for a medal on another global stage in Paris.
The game was tied, 22-22, after 10 minutes and Croatia was within 39-40 late in the second quarter, but a three-pointer by Olympiacos Piraeus’s Kostas Papanikolaou gave Greece a 39-45 halftime lead. Calathes keyed a 0-9 run in the middle of the third quarter to make it 50-64 and Croatia never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.
Ivica Zubac posted 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead Croatia. Mario Hezonja of Real Madrid and Mateo Dreznjak scored 15 points each in defeat.
Spain overpowers the Bahamas
Spain triumphed in Valencia over the Bahamas 86-78 with a player who just joined Panathinaikos this summer, Lorenzo Brown, leading the way. Another member of the Greens, Juancho Hernangomez, is on the Spain roster, but did not play due to injury. Brown scored 18 points for the winners and Willy Hernangomez of FC Barcelona tallied 15 points and 7 rebounds.
The Bahamas led 17-23 early in the second quarter, before Real Madrid’s Rudy Fernandez and Usman Garuba highlighted a 13-3 run that gave Spain the lead for good. It was 42-34 at halftime and the lead reached double figures in the third quarter. The Bahamas rallied to within 71-64 in the fourth quarter, but back-to-back threes by Santiago Aldama and Brown kept Spain in charge and later Rudy helped fend off another run to steer Spain to victory.
Buddy Hield scored 19 to lead the Bahamas, Deandre Ayton posted 17 points and 14 rebounds and Eric Gordon added 15 points in defeat.
Brazil advances in Riga
Brazil blasted Latvia in the final game in Riga 69-94. Bruno Caboclo of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade led the way with 21 points and Leo Meindl added 20 for the winners, who lost Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade playmaker Yago Dos Santos to injury in the second quarter.
Rihards Lomazs, who played for Virtus Segafredo Bologna last season, scored 15 to lead Latvia and Rolands Smits of Anadolu Efes Istanbul and Arturs Zagars of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul each scored 14.
Brazil scored the first 8 points of the game and then finished the first quarter with 19 unanswered points to lead 11-34 after 10 minutes. From that point, the rout was on.
Puerto Rico prevails at home
Puerto Rico pulled away in the third quarter and held a double-digit lead for most of the fourth in defeating Lithuania 68-79 in San Juan. The result sends Puerto Rico to the Olympics in basketball for the first time since 2004.
Jose Alvarado produced 23 points and 6 rebounds and Tremont Waters netted 18 for the winners. FC Barcelona’s Rokas Jokubaitis led Lithuania with 16 points and Marius Grigonis of Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens tallied 8 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in defeat.