Germany took advantage of an 18-3 run in the fourth quarter to clinch a win and come from behind, forcing Mexico to make 10 consecutive misses from the field during part of that stretch.
Joshiko Saibou led the Germans with 17 points. Francisco Cruz led all scorers with 30 points for Mexico.
Other Tuesday Results
Serbia 94-76 Dominican R.
Serbia’s quest to return to the Olympics got off to a good start.
Boban marjanovic The Dallas Mavericks scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games silver medalists opened their Olympic Qualifying Tournament with a 94-76 victory over the Dominican Republic on Tuesday.
The game was tied at 69-69 early in the fourth quarter; Serbia, which is hosting the tie in Belgrade, edged the Dominicans 25-7 the rest of the way.
“Of course, we are proud,” said Marjanovic, who averaged 11.8 points in four postseason games this season for Dallas. “Everyone who comes here wants the Olympics to be the main thing. Everyone fights for that place, everyone plays hard, well, and I am proud of my team because we did not give up on this game.”
There are four qualifying tournaments, hosted by Canada, Serbia, Lithuania and Croatia, to determine the last four places on the 12-team field for the Tokyo Olympics. Those four spots will all be determined on Sunday.
Filip Petrusev scored 17 points and Vasilije Micic added 16 for Serbia.
“As expected, it was a tough match,” said Serbia coach Igor Kokoskov.
Michael Torres Cuevas and Victor Liz each scored 16 points for the Dominican Republic.
Lithuania 76-65 Venezuela
Jonas Valanciunas he had 20 points on 8 of 9 shots, plus 11 rebounds for Lithuania. Domantas Sabonis and Mantas Kalnietis scored 12 apiece for Lithuania, who closed the first half on an 8-0 run to break a tie and held the lead the rest of the way. David Cubillan scored 11 points for Venezuela.
Poland 83-64 Angola
Mateusz Ponitka scored 22 points in 23 minutes, AJ Slaughter added 16 and Poland had little trouble in their opener. Angola led 19-18 at the end of the first quarter; Poland took control by scoring 28 of the next 40 points of the game. Yanick Moreira scored 27 points for Angola.
Brazil 83-57 Tunisia
Vitor Benite scored 15 points, and Brazil steadily walked away in the final three quarters for an easy opening win. Oussama Marnaoui scored 13 for Tunisia. The game was tied 21-21 after the first quarter, and Brazil edged Tunisia 62-36 the rest of the way.