Croatia beats all odds to qualify for Beijing

(BEIJING, July 20) -- Sixteen years after winning the silver medal in Olympic Men's Basketball and 12 years after their last Olympic appearance, Croatia is returning to the biggest stage in sports. The current world No. 20 came into the 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men as underdogs, but beat world No. 9 Germany 76-70 in a semifinal match on July 20 to secure a place in the Beijing Olympic Games.

The Croatians built a 12-5 lead to start the game, thanks to eight points from guard Marko Tomas. Germany responded quickly, with NBA star Dirk Nowitzki scoring six points to cut Team Croatia's lead to two at 16-14. But weak defense by the Germans at the end of the quarter allowed Croatia to score eight unanswered points and finish the first quarter with a 24-14 lead.

Nowitzki scored eight straight points of his own to start the second quarter, leading a revived German team on a 10-2 run. But two blocks by Croatian players Sandro Nicevic and Kresimir Loncar and tightened defense helped stem the tide, and the Croatians responded with their own 10-2 run to finish the quarter up 36-31. Nowitzki scored 11 points in the second quarter and had 19 points at half time.

The third quarter was a 10-minute dogfight. Germany scored only eight points in the first seven minutes, though their fierce defense conceded only six points. A three pointer from guard Pascal Roller and a buzzer-beater from guard Steffen Hamann helped Germany to a 48-47 lead at the end of the quarter. Though Croatia was ice-cold in the quarter, they managed to lock down Nowitzki, who contributed just two made free throws.

Croatia's relentless defense on Nowitzki paid off in the final quarter. Finding their shooting touch again, the Croatians went on a 16-5 run in seven minutes, allowing only three free-throw points from Nowitzki. The German team called a crucial time-out down 53-63 with only three minutes left. A 14-6 run out of the time-out cut the deficit to just two points with 38 seconds left, thanks to six points from Nowitzki, three points each from Steffen Hamann and Robert Garret and two points from Pascal Roller. But Germany failed to claim possession off a missed free throw by Croatian Davor Kus with 34 seconds remaining and Marko Tomas capitalized, extending Croatia's lead to four with 24 seconds left. After German Demond Greene missed a three-pointer that may have saved the game, the Croatians sealed the victory from the free-throw line.

Both teams were miserable from behind the three-point arc, shooting just 25 percent. Croatia out rebounded Germany by seven, including seven more offensive rebounds. Both teams distributed the ball poorly, Croatia had only 10 assists in the game and Germany had only three. Nowitzki scored 30 points for Germany, but was one of five behind the arc. Chris Kaman was disappointing in the paint, scoring 12 points but grabbing only three defensive rebounds. Marko Tomas was the best man on Team Croatia, scoring 21 points on just 10 attempts. Center Stanko Bara