Marcelo Huertas scored a game-high 17 points to lead Brazil to a 94-54 victory over Lebanon on Tuesday in the South Americans’ opening game of the final qualifying event for the Beijing Olympics.
Slovenia, Germany and Puerto Rico also won on Tuesday, the second day of a 12-nation tournament that will decide the final three berths for China.
“We just made the first step. Now, we have Greece ahead of us, one of the top four or five teams in the world,” Brazilian coach Moncho Monsalve said
Brazil is without its three NBA players: Leandro Barbosa, Anderson Varejao and Nene.
“I am interested in the players that are here and wear the team colors,” Monsalve said. “If [the three] want to join after the Olympics, fine. Otherwise, I don’t mind.”
Earlier, Ricky Sanchez scored 17 points and Puerto Rico survived a Cameroon surge to win 81-72 and earn a place in tomorrow’s quarter-finals.
Cameroon trailed by 21 points early in the second half and pulled within 70-67 with 1:40 remaining.
Slovenia was the first team to clinch a quarter-final berth, rallying from an early deficit to beat Canada 86-70 for its second victory.
Jaka Lakovic led the Slovenes with 19 points.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 17 points and Chris Kaman added 10 points and 10 rebounds to pace Germany to a 104-68 victory over Cape Verde.
Kaman, who plays for the Los Angeles Clippers, only recently acquired German citizenship.
“I’m excited to be here. These guys have been playing together for 10 years now. They’ve been very welcoming. It reminds me of college,” Kaman said.
The losses eliminated Cameroon, Cape Verde and Lebanon from contention.
Besides Tuesday’s winners, the results also earned quarter-final berths for Croatia, Greece and New Zealand. Canada and South Korea were to battle for the remaining spot in the quarter-finals yesterday.
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