2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament Update

Last night in the quarterfinals Russia, Nigeria, Dominican Republic and Lithuania advanced to the semifinals by beating Angola, Greece, FYROM & Puerto Rico.  Today Russia played against Nigeria and Lithuania faced off against the Dominican Republic for the chance to compete at the London Olympics. However, the two losing teams are still going to play against each other tomorrow for the third and final ticket to the Olympics.

In the first of two games, Russia defeated Nigeria 85-77.  Alexey Shved scored 22 points, Andrei Kirilenko had 19 points & 8 rebounds.  Russia won the first quarter 26-20, they had a bigger lead after the 2nd quarter, 46-31.  Nigeria tried cutting the lead down, but they couldn't get over the hump.  Nigeria seemed to play a little slow, perhaps they used a lot of their energy to beat tough opponents like Lithuania and Greece.  Ike Diogu had 16 points and 14 boards in the loss.

In the 2nd game of the day, Lithuania defeated the Dominican Republic easily, 109-83.  Jonas Maciulis scored 19 points,  Raptors lottery pick from last year, Jonas Valanciunas, rebounded from his awful performance last night against Puerto Rico and went ___ from the field for 17 points and 9 boards & Linas Kleiza had 13.

Lithuania had a 21-16 lead after the first quarter and the game remained close until the third period, in which Lithuania got themselves a 20 point lead, 63-43 and the game went downhill for the Dominicans. Jack Michael Martinez had 13 points and 10 rebounds, Al Horford 12 and 10 & Juan Coronado did his part with 10 points for the Dominicans.

With the win, the Lithuanians are now headed to London to play in the Olympics (Same with Russia) , the Dominicans can join them tomorrow if they beat Nigeria for the third and final spot,  if they do that, the Dominicans will be going to their first Olympics in their history.

Photo credit: Endi.com

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2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament Day 2.

Dominican Republic 95 - Korea 85

Korea played with a sense of urgency right from the start, they lead by four after the first 20 minutes and even part of the third quarter, but Jack Michael Martinez had a monster game with 25 rebounds and 16 points, Al Horford dominated with 30 points (12 in the third) & 11 rebounds . Those big guys were just too much for Korea to contain. 

What this means: By losing to the Dominican Republic, Korea is now eliminated.  Dominican Republic will face off against Russia to see who will end up with the lead in their group, both teams are sure to advance to the quarterfinals regardless of the result. 


FYROM  84 - New Zealand 62

Bo McCaleb had 23 points, Pero Antic 17 & 10 and Macedonia took care of business early by defeating New Zealand by 22 points.  Macedonia lead every quarter by double figures, Alex Piedger lead New Zealand in scoring with 11 points.

What this means: After losing 88-84 to Angola on Monday, Macedonia did what they had to do, now their faith in the quarterfinals depends on Wednesday's New Zealand vs Angola game.


Puerto Rico 93 - Jordan  52 

Puerto Rico got off to a fast start, they lead 29-11 in the first quarter and Jordan never stood a chance.  Peter John Ramos dominated the inside with 20 points, 9-9 FG and 9 boards, Ricky Sanchez had 12 points, 7 rebounds & Alex Franklin had 10 points (including three spectacular dunks)  they didn't even needed big performances from Carlos Arroyo or JJ Barea.  Osama Daghles had 17 points for Jordan in the loss.

What this means:  Jordan is eliminated from the competition, Puerto Rico and Greece will advance to the quarterfinals and they will play on Wednesday to see who will take the group lead.


Lithuania 100 - Venezuela  82 

Lithuania dominated the game from start to finish,  the Lithuanians took a 49-36 lead at the break behind 19 points for Linas Kleiza, they lead by 16 at the end of three and ended up winning by 18.  Kleiza finished with 28 points, Greivis Vasquez had 28 for Venezuela.


What this means:  Lithuania can clinch an appearance in the quarterfinals by beating Nigeria on Wednesday  and also letting Venezuela advance as well, Nigeria will be eliminated by going 0-2.



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2012 Centrobasket Gold medal game. Puerto Rico vs Dominican Republic

1st Quarter


4:00 -  After the first 6 minutes of the game, Puerto Rico has a 13-12 lead over Dominican Republic, David Huertas has 7 points, JJ Barea has 6 and they are the only two players that have scored for PR.  Juan Coronado scored the first 5 for Dominican Republic, Al Horford and Jack Michael Martinez have a basket each.

2:03 - Puerto Rico leads 16-13, Jose Juan Barea is penetrating at will and finding guys for open layups.  Francisco Garcia hasn't found his shot yet, he's 0-3.

1:23 - Edwin Ubiles had a monster slam. My goodness, giving PR a 6 point lead.

End of 1st -  Puerto Rico 21, Domimican Republic 14.

Leading Scorers:
JJ Barea 8 points, David Huertas 7  (PR)
Eulis Baez, Jose Coronado  5 (DR)

Field Goal shooting

10-17 FG (PR)
5-14  FG (DR)

2nd Quarter


6:49 - Mike Rosario begins the quarter by making a floater , Ricky Sanchez had a tip in and the lead is now 11 for Puerto Rico, However, Francisco Garcia heated up for 3 straight three pointers and the lead is down to 4.  27-23

The Dominican Republic went on a 17-5 run before JJ Barea's three pointer, made it 17-8.  Francisco Garcia woke up in a big way, scoring three triples in the quarter & Jack Michael Martinez (11 and 4 boards)  couldn't be stopped in the low block.  The Dominicans outscored the Puertoricans by 12 in the period


End of 2nd  - Dominican Republic 40, Puerto Rico 35.

 Halftime stats:

Puerto Rico
Jose Juan Barea 13 pts

Dominican Republic
Jack Michael Martinez   13 points
Francisco Garcia  9 points


3rd Quarter


9:16 -  A quick 5-0 for PR run tied the game & coach Calipari quickly called a timeout.

4:49 - Puerto Rico is holding a one point lead, 50-49.  Both teams have been erratic from the field, however, Jack Michael Martinez continues dominating the inside.

2:11 -  DR leds by 3, 55-52.   It's been a Jack Michael Martinez - Jose Juan Barea duel in the quarter so far.


End of 3rd - Dominican Republic 58, Puerto Rico 54

Jack Michael Martinez and Jose Juan Barea scored 6 points each in the quarter.

4th Quarter

8:03 -  Back two back baskets by Daniel Santiago is keeping PR in  the game, but Dominican Republic isn't missing many shots from the field and they are up 63-58.

5:00 - Dominican Republic leads 66-65

3:11 -  With Puerto Rico down two, JJ Barea found a trailing Ricky Sanchez on the break, but he was rejected emphatically by Al Horford.

2:44 - Juan Coronado hit a three and puts Dominican Republic up by 7 points.

53 Secs - PR is down 7, they tried making a comeback, but their dumb fouls at the end of the shot clock prevented that. Dominican Republic made all their free throws down the stretch and that was a big difference.


End of 4th Quarter - Dominican Republic 80, Puerto Rico 72.    Dominican Republic wins the 2012 Centrobasket.

Dominican Republic got some questionable call in the last quarter of the game, however, their execution and aggressiveness was way better than Puerto Rico and they deserved to get the win.

Final Stats

Dominican Republic
Jack Michael Martinez  23 points, 11 boards
Juan Coronado 17 points

Puerto Rico
Jose Juan Barea 18 points
Daniel Santiago 16 points
Ricky Sanchez 15 points

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