Serbia, Croatia earn 2 of 3 remaining basketball berths
Serbia emphatically claimed its first Olympic appearance as an independent country Saturday, crushing Puerto Rico 108-77 in the championship game of the Olympic qualifying tournament it hosted in Belgrade.
Bojan Bogdanovic of the Brooklyn Nets scored 26 points, former Philadelphia 76ers lottery pick Dario Saric added 18 points and 13 rebounds, and the Croatians qualified for the Olympics for the first time since 2008.
The other final is Sunday in Manila, where Canada gets a second shot to claim the Olympic berth that slipped away last year when it blew a late lead and was stunned by Venezuela in the semifinals of the FIBA Americas tournament.
Cory Joseph of the Toronto Raptors scored 23 points and Tristan Thompson of the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers added 13 points and 10 rebounds Saturday in a 78-72 victory over New Zealand.