France pips Japan, makes Paris quarters

PARIS, France (AFP) — France scraped past Japan, 94-90, to secure a quarterfinal spot in the men’s basketball at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, needing a four-point play from Matthew Strazel in the final seconds to send the game to overtime.

Victor Wembanyama led France with 18 points and 11 rebounds, but it was Strazel who delivered the clutch shot late in the game with his team trailing by four points.

Strazel was fouled as he drained a three-pointer with under 11 seconds to play and sank the resulting free throw to level the scores.

Wembanyama came to the fore in overtime, scoring eight of his team’s 10 points to secure Tokyo silver medalists France a second win in as many games in the tournament.

They are guaranteed to go through to the Last Eight along with Germany, which punched its ticket to the knockout phase with an 86-73 victory over Brazil.

France and Germany meet in their final game in Group B on Friday.

Canada is on the verge of the quarterfinals following a 93-83 win over Australia in Group A.

RJ Barrett top-scored with 24 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 16 against Australia, who won bronze at the last Olympics.

Spain bounced back from an opening loss as it defeated Greece, 84-77, despite a 27-point effort from Giannis Antetokounmpo.