Germany beats France, undefeated in men's hoops

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VILLENEUVE-D'ASCQ, France -- Dennis Schroder and Franz Wagner each scored 26 points as Germany beat France 85-71 on Friday ahead of quarterfinals play in men's Olympic basketball.

Daniel Theis added seven points and eight rebounds to help Germany finish unbeaten atop Group B. It was France's first loss of the group stage.

Victor Wembanyama had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the host country, which trailed by 21 at halftime and struggled to deal with Wagner on the inside as well as Schroder's outside shooting.

Germany outscored France 24-9 in the second quarter. France had eight turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.

France finally found some traction with Wembanyama sitting to start the fourth, cutting the deficit to 12. By the time Wembanyama re-entered the game with 4:30 to play, Germany's lead had ballooned back up to 19.

Dennis Schroder has averaged 19.7 points per game on a 40.9% clip from beyond the arc at the Paris Olympics so far. John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 20 points and seven rebounds as Greece kept its hopes alive of advancing to next week's knockout round. Greece defeated Australia 77-71.

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 Boomers 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 Canada's win over Spain gave Greece a third-place group finish, though advancing isn't guaranteed. Canada and Australia are moving on from Group A, along with France, Germany and Brazil in Group B and the United States in Group C. The final two spots will be determined by what happens Saturday in the Group C matchup between Serbia and South Sudan.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 points and hit two free throws in the final seconds to help Canada beat Spain 88-85 and win Group A.

Andrew Nembhard added 18 points. Canada now waits to see which team it will face in the knockout round next week.

Dario Brizuela had 17 points for Spain, which was eliminated by virtue of Greece's win over Australia. It's an early exit for 1-2 Spain, which last earned an Olympic medal with a bronze at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

Bruno Caboclo had 33 points and 17 rebounds, sending Brazil to a 102-84 victory over Japan. And by finishing with a better point differential than Greece, Brazil is assured of going to the quarterfinals as one of the best two third-place finishers.

Vitor Benite added 19 points for Brazil, which finished third in Group B behind France and Germany.

Foul trouble limited Caboclo in Brazil's previous losses to France and Germany. He went scoreless against France and had just six points in 12 minutes of action against Germany before fouling out. He stayed on the court this time and made his presence felt.

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"This is the biggest stage of basketball," said the 28-year-old Caboclo, who played seven NBA seasons for Toronto, Sacramento, Memphis and Houston from 2014 to 2021. "The international team I think is bigger than NBA. The Olympics is the biggest in the world. Every athlete wants to be here at least one time. We were able to accomplish that. Hopefully we can go to the quarterfinals."

Caboclo didn't know it at the time that Brazil was indeed moving on.

Japan played without top scorer Rui Hachimura. Japan's basketball federation said before the game that Hachimura had left France after sustaining a left calf injury during its overtime loss to France.

Caboclo scored 15 of Brazil's first 31 points, helping it build a 16-point lead in the third quarter. Japan rallied and got back within 77-73 entering the fourth, but Brazil closed the game on a 22-4 run to keep Japan winless at the Olympics.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Germany beats France, undefeated in men's hoops

Germany beats France, undefeated in men's hoops

Germany beats France, undefeated in men's hoops

Germany beats France, undefeated in men's hoops

Germany beats France, undefeated in men's hoops