FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament: Greece beat Slovenia, will meet Croatia in final

By William Imbo
2 min|
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Picture by fiba.credit
Basketball

Greece beat Slovenia 96-68 on Saturday (6 July) afternoon to reach the final of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Greece.

Thomas Walkup led Greece with 19 points, while Giannis Antetokounmpo had 13 points and four rebounds in just under 21 minutes of action. Luka Doncic had 21 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in a losing effort for Slovenia, who miss the chance to return to the Olympics after making their Games debut in the men’s basketball competition at Tokyo 2020.

Greece now advance to the final of the OQT where they will play Croatia, who beat the Dominican Republic 80-77 in a brutal contest that came down to the final play of the game.

That game is scheduled for 21:00 EEST on Sunday (7 July). The winner will earn qualification to the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

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Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece drives to the basket against Josh Nebo of Slovenia.

Picture by fiba.credit

Luka Doncic on Greece: "They have an amazing team"

Doncic and Slovenia were sluggish to start the game, with the former committing two turnovers and missing two free-throws before eventually scoring on a driving layup. The basket—Slovenia's first of the game—finally came after four minutes of play, by which point Greece had already built a healthy 13-2 lead.

Slovenia, who finished fourth at Tokyo 2020 in 2021, would mount a comeback and only trailed by 14 at the half, 47-33.

But in the third quarter Greece turned the screw, with Walkup hitting three consecutive three-pointers to push the lead to 56-36. Eventually, the depth of Hellas was simply too much for Slovenia to handle, with four players finishing in double-figures.

Following the game, Doncic explained what makes this Greek team such a tough opponent.

"First of all, they have Giannis—which is a lot," Doncic admitted.

Giannis Antetokounmpo (right) defends against Luka Doncic.

Picture by fiba.credit

"But they have other players like Nick Calathes and [Thomas] Walkup who organise the team very well.

"They're a very experience team. They all know how to play basketball, and they're very well coached.

"I think they're a great team, and I wish them good luck."

Greece to face Croatia in final

In Saturday's late game, Croatia overcame a stubborn Dominican Republic team 80-77 to book their place in the final, where they will take on Greece.

Ivica Zubac (CRO) led all players with 25 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks.