By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Philadelphia 76ers Olympians Dario Saric and Sergio Rodriguez were in action on Wednesday night in quarterfinals action with Croatia losing to Serbia and Spain defeating France. Because this phase of the tournament is the knockout round, Saric and the Croatians have officially been eliminated while Spain will play the U.S. in the next round.
Saric and Croatia took a 38-32 lead into the half, but Serbia outscored them by 20 in the third quarter to take a 66-52 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes. Croatia pulled to within three with four minutes to go, but clutch free throws in with time running down secured the win for them, 86-83. Croatia turned the ball over 18 times and were outscored in the paint, 40-22. Dario Saric was kept in check for the most part, limited to just seven points (3-7 FG) while also grabbing four rebounds. He was on the bench for the last few minutes of the game. Despite the loss, Saric had a strong first Olympic showing, averaging 11.8 points and 6.7 rebounds in 33.7 minutes per game. Saric will have a little over a month before he needs to report to Philadelphia for training game in late September.
After losing their first two games, Spain has won their last four and will take on the talented, undefeated United States team on Friday at 2:30 p.m. In each of the last two Summer Olympics, the U.S. has beaten Spain in the gold medal game, but this time around, it will be to decide who advances to the gold medal game. Spain defeated France on Wednesday, 92-67. Sixers guard Sergio Rodriguez came off the bench to score six points (3-5 FG) and dish out four assists.
