Serbia beat Philippines 83-76 to qualify for FIBA OQT semifinals

By Emre Asikci

ISTANBUL (AA) - Serbia beat the Philippines 83-76 to qualify for the semifinals on Thursday at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament Group A game.

Boban Marjanovic was the highest scorer of the game with 25 points and 11 rebounds in Belgrade.

Ognjen Dobric scored 16 points, while Milos Teodosic produced 13 points and six assists.

For the losing side, Kakou Ange Franck Williams Kouame finished with 17 points and seven rebounds.

Jordan Timothy Heading produced 13 points.

The Basketball World Cup 2019 produced seven directly qualified nations for the Olympic Games, while the host country, Japan, received automatic qualification.

The four remaining spots in the 12-team Tokyo 2020 Olympic field are reserved for the winners of each of the four Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.

The Olympic Qualifying Tournaments will include the 16 best-placed non-qualified sides from the Basketball World Cup and two highest-ranked countries per region in the FIBA World Ranking.

The winner of each tournament will book a ticket for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The Summer Olympics will take place from July 23 to Aug. 8 after being postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.