Cameroon defeated Brazil by 77:74, secured the second position in the group, and semifinals of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, where they will play against the host Latvia, while Brazil will play against the Philippines.
From the first quarter, Cameroon played extremely well and scored 29 points, as soon as it proved that they will be a very difficult rival for Brazil, which did not enter this duel as seriously as possible. Aleksandar Petrovic’s team did not play defense at all and for that they were punished with many easy points scored by Cameroon in the first 10 minutes.
In the second quarter, Brazil’s picture was even worse. The complete absence of ideas in the offense and no will in the defense resulted in a plus 24 for Cameroon, who played as if in a trance. However, from the middle of that part of the game, the effectiveness of the African team began to decline, so Brazil slowly established control.
Thus, Brazil got even closer in the third quarter, and in the fourth they played their best since the start of the match and reduced the difference to a single digit. Aleksandar Petrovic’s team did not dare to gamble, given that a seven-point defeat would have taken them to the second position in the group and a duel against Latvia. A big turnaround was on the horizon, when Brazil came to just minus two, two minutes before the end, so a dramatic finish followed.
Despite this, Cameroon kept control and ended up winning, thus eliminating Montenegro and securing the second position.
Jeremiah Hill was the most effective with 22 points, while Brice Bidias added 15. For Brazil, Leo Meindl stood out the most with 19 points.
Earlier, Lebanon secured passage to the semifinals of the tournament in Valencia, after beating Angola 74:70, and now awaits a clash against the Bahamas.
The most deserving for that were Omari Spellman with 22 points and Karim Zelnoun with 15 points. Gerson Goncalves led the losers with 13 points.
Top Betting Offers 2024: