NBA star Luka Doncic had a triple-double to lead Slovenia past Lithuania 96-85 and into their first Olympic basketball tournament on Sunday. Slovenia punched their ticket to Tokyo with a win at the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament in Kaunas, Lithuania. Doncic, 22, scored 15 of his 31 points in the second quarter and added 11 rebounds and 13 assists to lead Slovenia. Lithuania, led by NBA stalwarts Domantas Sabonis and Jonas Valanciunas, twice came back from double-digit deficits.
But Slovenia took control for good with a 14-0 scoring run in the third and fourth quarters, and the Lithuanians would miss the games for the first time.
“We worked hard for this,” said Dallas Mavericks star Doncic, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
“I don’t care about MVP,” Doncic said. “We won here, we’re going to the Olympics, the first time in our country.
“It’s amazing,” he added. “I think every kid in Slovenia dreams of going to the Olympics, so did I.”
The event in Kaunas was one of four games in the men’s basketball qualifiers that ended on Sunday
In Split, Croatia, Germany cooled off a red-hot Brazil to book their first Olympic berth since 2008.
Brazil beat their first three opponents by 26, 27 and 28 points to advance to the final.
But Germany punched their ticket with a 75-64 win in Tokyo.
In Belgrade, Italy defeated 2016 Olympic silver medalists Serbia 102-95 to secure a Tokyo berth.
On Sunday evening, the Czech Republic dominated Greece 97-72 in Victoria, Canada for the final spot in the 12-nation Olympic men’s basketball tournament.
Japan joins the field as hosts, while seven other teams qualified through the 2019 World Cup, including 2016 Olympic gold medalists the United States.
That list also includes World Cup winners and Rio bronze medalists Spain, Nigeria, Argentina, Iran, France and Australia — who finished fourth in Rio.
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