Men's Basketball Qualifiers: Brazil wins as Lebanon bows out

(BEIJING, July 16) -- Brazil thrashed Lebanon 94-54 in day two of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament to clinch a place in the quarterfinals.

It was the second consecutive loss by Lebanon after falling down to host Greece 62-119 in the previous day, forcing them to end their run for one of the three spots still available for the Beijing Olympic Games.

Lebanon coach Fuad Abou Chakra acknowledged his team was outclassed in Group A, which also contains 2007 European Championship silver-medal winner Greece, and Brazil, the traditional South American powerhouse.

"We are in the strongest group as both teams are great," said coach Abou Chakra. "Greece has the ability not only to qualify to the Olympic Games, but also achieve great results in Beijing. Also, Brazil will in the Final Four of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament. So, our hopes to escape with a win were very limited."

Despite the odds against Chakra's men, they played hard and pressed full court, with point guard Rony Fahed leading the team at 15 points and shooting 40% on the three-pointers. Omar El Turk also netted 11 points in the 12-minute play.

Lebanon was also handicapped by the loss of center Joe Vogel, who was sidelined for injuries.

"Our team depends a lot on Joe Vogel," Abou Chakra told FIBA.Com. "(He) can protect our basket, give us more rebounds and play inside and outside –all our other frontcourt players who were recruited for the National Team play only in the paint."

On the Brazilian side, Tieppo Huertas had 17 points, grabbing three rebounds and three assists, while Rafael Paulo De Lara and Murilo Da Rosa pouring in 16 and 14 apiece.

Monsalve Moncho, coach of the Brazil national team, expressed concern over the forthcoming clash against Greece, which he regards as "one of the four to five best teams in the world".

"Now, we'll face Greece." Moncho told FIBA.Com. "There won't be any similarities between the game we played last week and the one we are going to play tomorrow."

Brazil will face host country Greece on Wednesday in the quarterfinals. By the tournament's end on July 20th all remaining Olympic men's basketball berths will be decided.