Saric, Rodriguez punch tickets to Olympic quarterfinals

By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor

On the final day of Olympic preliminary play in Men's Basketball, both Philadelphia 76ers Olympians advanced to the knockout round of the tournament.  Dario Saric and Croatia ended up as the top seed in Group B with a win over Lithuania while Sergio Rodriguez and Spain defeated Nigeria to earn a spot in the quarterfinals.

Saric played an integral role in Croatia's 90-81 win over Lithuania. After trailing 21-13 after the first quarter, Croatia outscored Lithuania 32-40 in the second with Saric scoring 11 points to lead the way. He finished with 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting while also adding six rebounds and three assists. Through four games in his first year as an Olympian, Saric is averaging 12.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. He ranks fourth in rebounding and second in minutes per game with 33.7 in the preliminary round.

Spain racked up its third straight win, topping Argentina on Monday by a score of 92-73. Sergio Rodriguez performed well in his backup point guard role, scoring five points while dishing out six assists in 21 minutes of play.

The knockout phase of the Olympic tournament begins on Wednesday. Croatia (3-2) will match up with Serbia (2-3) at 9:15 p.m. while Spain (3-2) will play France (3-2) at 1:30 p.m.

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