Olympics B/Ball: Dominican hurdle for Nigeria

Russia and Lithuania qualified for the London Games basketball competition on Saturday with semi-final victories in the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament in Caracas, Venezuela.

Russia remained undefeated in the qualifying event with an 85-77 semi-final victory over Nigeria while Lithuania defeated the Dominican Republic 109-83.

Nigeria and the Dominican Republic will play Sunday for the third and final Olympic berth, while Russia and Lithuania will now turn their attention to London.

Andrei Kirilenko led European bronze medallists Russia with 19 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three assists.

The Russians opened a 20 point third-quarter lead and while the tenacious Nigerians narrowed the gap to six in the final period they could get no closer.

Vitaliy Fridzon added 15 points and three assists for Russia who had 22 points, six assists and four rebounds from Alexey Shved.

Ike Diogu led Nigeria with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Lithuania notched a dominant victory to maintain their streak of Olympic appearances.

Lithuania have ranked among the first four in the five Olympic Games since its independence from the former Soviet Union, winning bronze in 1992, 1996, 2000 and taking fourth in 2004 and 2008.

Jonas Maciulis stepped up when it mattered with 19 points and Jonas Valanciunas, selected by the Toronto Raptors with the fifth pick in the 2011 NBA draft, added 17 as five Lithuanian players scored in double figures.

Jack Michael Martinez scored 13 points with 10 rebounds for the Dominican Republic. Al Horford added 12 points and Francisco Garcia chipped in 11.

The Dominicans opened the first quarter with great energy, but their disappointing 7-of-21 shooting from the floor helped Lithuania take a 21-16 lead after the first period, which Lithuania stretched to a 16-point halftime advantage.

The Dominican Republic never got closer than 13 points in the second half.

Both Russia and Lithuania will play in group A in the preliminary round in London, along with the 2008 gold medallists the United States, Argentina, France and Tunisia.

The winner of Sunday’s game between Nigeria and the Dominican Republic will book a berth in group B, which includes Spain, Brazil, Australia, China and hosts Great Britain.