Australia and France advance to last eight of World Cup as USA beat Greece
Saturday 7 September 2019 18:02, UK
Australia and France reached the basketball World Cup quarter-finals with a match to spare, while holders USA edged closer to the last eight by beating Greece on Saturday.
Australia overcame a strong challenge from the Dominican Republic in an 82-76 win over the Caribbean nation while France ground out a dramatic 78-75 victory against Lithuania.
The Americans enjoyed plain sailing although Giannis Antetokounmpo, last season's most valuable player in the NBA regular season, made a bright start as he netted seven of Greece's opening nine points.
A steely defence by the USA forced the Greeks to take a barrage of difficult perimeter shots while the champions took advantage of their athleticism at the other end of the court.
The USA had six players in double scoring digits, with Kemba Walker leading the way on 17 points. Harrison Barnes got 15 and Myles Turner added 14 while Jaylen Brown, Joe Harris and Donovan Mitchell chipped in with 11 each.
The Czech Republic also boosted their hopes of advancing to the knockout stage of the competition with an impressive 93-71 victory over Brazil thanks to an effervescent performance by their Chicago Bulls guard Tomas Satoransky.
Serbia, Spain, Poland and Argentina reached the quarter-finals with a match to spare on Friday.
The Serbians face Spain in Sunday's standout fixture while the Poles will clash with Argentina to decide who will finish top in their respective pools.
