Nico Mannion on Sunday scored a team-high 24 points to lead Italy to a win over Serbia in Belgrade and claim one of four spots in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Mannion added four assists in the 102-95 victory while shooting 7-of-17 from the field in 28 minutes of work. He finished the qualifying tournament averaging 17.7 points, four assists and 1.7 rebounds per game, ranking third in scoring among all players.
Italy qualified for the Olympics for the first time since 2004 when it finished with a silver medal. With its win, Italy has been placed into Group B for the Olympics in Tokyo. The group includes Australia, Nigeria and Germany.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH5BWwMiS-Y
Preliminary play in basketball, which consists of 12 teams in three groups, will begin July 25 and run through Aug. 2. The quarterfinals will start on Aug. 3 and consist of the top two teams in each group from the preliminary phase plus the two best third-place teams.
The semifinals will take place on Aug. 5 with the gold and bronze medal games on Aug. 7.
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