Italy-Tokyo-Gallinari-Melli
Photo: FIBA Basketball

Italy made a huge step to qualify for the Basketball Olympic Tournament knockout phase after claiming a 92-82 victory over Germany. Mario Sacchetti’s squad closed out the game with a 12-0 run to get the first victory in Tokyo.

Simone Fontecchio led Italy with 20 points, while Danilo Gallinari and Stefano Tonut had 18 points each. Captain Nicolo Melli followed them with 13 points and nine rebounds.

Germany’s Maodo Lo scored a game-high 23 points off the bench. Germany will need at least one win over Australia or Nigeria to have any chance of qualification to the next round.

Czech Republic experienced its first win in an Olympic Tournament, securing a 78-84 victory over Iran. Patrik Auda with 16 points and Blake Schilb with 14 led the winning side, while Tomas Satoransky had six points, eight rebounds, eight assists and five steals.

Behnam Yakhchalidehkordi scored a game-high 23 points for Iran.