By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
France rolled over the Czech Republic 97 – 77 to double its wins in the Olympic Games and advance to the quarterfinals as first in Group A.
After leading France past Team USA, Evan Fournier was once again the top scorer for his national team with 21 points on 8-13 shots. Nando De Colo added 17 points, Vincent Poirier had 14 points and Thomas Heurtel scored 11 and dished out seven assists for Le Bleus that were the dominant force in the game after the first 10 minutes.
The Czech team began the match by firing 8-9 triples in the first quarter to go up 28 – 22. Their opponents adjusted their defense and turned everything upside down to close halftime with a 51 – 40 advantage.
France never looked back and even got a 26-point lead (91 – 65) halfway through the fourth period.
Jan Vesely led the Czech efforts with 19 points plus five rebounds. Ondrej Balvin added 18 points and eight rebounds, Tomas Satoransky had 18 points and nine assists while Patrick Auda finished with 14 points. Their team dropped to 1-1 and will be facing Team USA in the last gameday.
The first two teams from each Group automatically qualify to the next stage and will be joined by the two best 3rd-placed squads.