Basketball: Czechs reach FIBA World Cup quarterfinals for first time

The Czech team have advanced to the FIBA World Cup basketball quarterfinals for the first time despite their 77 – 84 loss to Greece on Monday. The Greek team needed to win by at least 12 points to advance.

For the Czechs to make it to the top 8, they still needed the United States needed to beat Brazil, later on in the day. The US won the Monday afternoon match by a score of 89 – 73.

After this result, the Czechs got second place in the standings in the three-way tie with Brazil and Greece, thanks to point difference.

Chicago Bulls guard Tomáš Satoranský flirted with a triple-double (13 points, eight assists, nine rebounds) in the Czech win.

Apart from the Czechs and Americans, also already through to the quarterfinals in China are the French and Australians. Argentina, Serbia, Spain and Poland have all locked down their seeding.

Author: Brian Kenety