MADRID, 4 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Finnish men’s basketball team won 88-89 against Poland on Thursday and will face the Spanish team in the semi-finals of the Pre-Olympic Tournament being played in Valencia, while Slovenia, captained by Luka Doncic, will face Greece, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, in the same round in the tournament being played in Piraeus.
A three-pointer by point guard Edon Maxhuni with 1:29 left capped the Finnish team’s great comeback, having been down by 14 points at the start of the fourth quarter. Although power forward Jeremy Sochan and shooting guard AJ Slaughter had stood out in the Polish ranks, scoring 20 and 21 points respectively, Poland succumbed after two free throws scored in the nick of time by center Alexander Madsen.
Thanks to this score, the Finnish team finished second in Group B of the tournament held at the Fuente de San Luis Pavilion. This means that they will now face the host Spain at the ‘taronja’ stadium for a place in the final, seeking the only ticket to go to the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris (France).
Meanwhile, Lebanon came back at the start of the fourth quarter against Angola to end up winning 70-74 and occupying second place in Group A in this Fonteta tournament. This earned the Lebanese team a place in the semi-finals, where they will play against the Bahamas, a team that had done its homework in the previous days by winning both of its matches.
On the other hand, the evenly matched Pre-Olympic tournament at the Peace and Friendship Pavilion saw another recital from Luka Doncic with 36 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and 37 PIR credits. This time the numbers of the Dallas Mavericks point guard did help Slovenia to win, 78-104, against a New Zealand that was eliminated in Group A.
There, Croatia moved on to the semi-finals as leader, who will play against the Dominican Republic, and the second place team was drawn against the Slovenians with the leading team from Group B, which was the host Greece after beating Egypt 93-71 and without the line-up of power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was dosed due to his tough season with the Milwaukee Bucks.
In addition, at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia, the Philippines lost 94-96 to Georgia, which left them second in Group A behind Latvia. The hosts will be drawn in the semi-finals against Cameroon, which won a thriller 77-74 against Brazil in Group B.
Despite this result, which was partly due to shooting guard Jeremiah Hill with 22 points, six rebounds, six assists and 22 PIR credits, the Brazilian team advanced as leader to the next round, where they will face the Philippines for a place in the final.
2024-07-04 20:57:29
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