Greece qualified for the Olympics after 16 years, Spain is also going to the Games

The basketball players of Greece defeated Croatia 80:69 tonight in the "Hall of Peace and Friendship" and qualified for the Olympic Games.

Tonight, for the first time in 16 years, since the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008, Greece qualified for the world's largest sports exhibition.

Croats played a good match, especially in the first half. During the first quarter, Josip Sesar's team had a maximum advantage of four points (18:14), but in those moments Greece played on the wings of Jorgos Papagiannis.

It was Papajanis who was great in the first half, he missed only one shot from the field, so he and Toliopoulos initiated an 8:0 run, when the home selection went to 37:29 at the end of the first half.

In the second half, Vasilis Spanulis' team controlled the situation on the field and after the points of Nika Kalates, they gained a double-digit advantage for the first time (60:50), and by the end of the match they had a maximum advantage of 13 points on several occasions.

Janis Adetokunbo was the most effective for Greece with 23 points and eight rebounds. Papajanis had 19 and Kalates 14 points.

In the Croatian team, Zubac stood out with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

At the Games, Greece will be in a group with the selections of Australia, Canada and Spain, which defeated the Bahamas 86:78 tonight in the final of the tournament in Valencia.

After an even first quarter, Spain went on a 9:0 run in the second and took a 42:31 lead.

From that moment on, "fury" maintained the lead, and in the third quarter, after Brizuela's three-pointer, they had a plus 14 - 61:47.

But the Bahamas did not give up, they managed to reduce the deficit and enter the last minute with a six-point deficit - 83:77. The Bahamas had an attack to further reduce the deficit, but Hild first lost the ball, and then missed a three-pointer, and on the other side, Rudi Fernandes eliminated all doubts about the winner from the penalty spot.

The most effective player for Spain was Lorenzo Braun with 18 points, while Hild stood out with 19 points on the other side.