France has earned the final basketball spot in the Olympics, beating Canada 83-74 on Sunday in the championship game of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Manila, Philippines. The other nine teams in the 12-team field are: the U.S., Brazil, Spain, Lithuania, Argentina, Venezuela, China, Australia and Nigeria. France fell just short of qualifying last summer when it lost to Spain in the EuroBasket semifinals, but it made the most of its final chance and joins Serbia and Croatia, who won the other two Olympic Qualifying Tournaments on Saturday. A draw will determine where those three teams are placed in the Rio field. Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs scored 26 points for the French, who pulled away in the fourth quarter after the game was close most of the way.

Source: New Zealand Herald July 10, 2016 15:11 UTC