Giannis, Greece stay alive with win over Australia

VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 20 points and seven rebounds as Greece outlasted Australia 77-71 on Friday to keep alive its hopes of advancing to next week’s quarterfinal round in Olympic men’s basketball.

Thomas Walkup added 18 points for Greece. Jock Landale led Australia with 17 points.

“We didn’t want to leave this tournament without getting a win,” Antetokounmpo said. “We felt like we had a very good team to not get the win. And we competed. We fight for all three games. And I think this has been a game that we had to fight for until the end.”

The top two teams in each of the three groups automatically qualify for the quarterfinals. The final two spots in the next round go to the best third-place teams in group play.

Greece entered the day 0-2 in Group A play, needing to beat the Aussies by 10 or more points and for Canada to defeat Spain to ensure advancement to next week’s knockout stage in Paris.

Greece’s six-point victory and a Canada win will still give Greece a third-place group finish, though advancing isn’t guaranteed.

Canada and Spain meet later in the day. Australia can still finish second in the group and advance with a Canada win over Spain.

Australia erased what had been a 19-point deficit, getting within 71-69 with less than three minutes remaining on a pull-up jumper by Patty Mills.

Mills drew an offensive foul on Antetokounmpo, but Australia turned it over on its next possession.

Antetokounmpo found Vasilis Toliopoulos, who knocked down a 3-pointer to put Greece back up by five. It later grew to 77-70 on a 3 by Walkup with 1:04 left.

Australia’s Dyson Daniels had to go to the locker room for treatment in the second quarter after an awkward slip on the court. But he was able to return late in the period.