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Croatia Bounces Back With Win Over Brazil

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

By Josh Cohen
Aug. 11, 2016

Croatia took one step closer to securing a spot in the knockout stage at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

Bojan Bogdanovic erupted for a tournament-best 33 points and drilled a huge 3-pointer with 2:28 remaining as Croatia defeated Brazil, 80-76, on Thursday in Group B preliminary round action.

Dario Saric posted 15 points and seven rebounds. He knocked down a triple with 1:55 left that put Croatia up nine and then followed with a putback layup with just under a minute remaining.

Mario Hezonja buried a pair of 3-pointers for six points. Through three games, he has shot 10-of-17 from the floor and 7-of-11 from beyond the arc.

Croatia generally goes through Bogdanovic and Saric and uses Hezonja and some of its other quality perimeter shooters like Krunoslav Simon and Luka Babic as floor spacers. They shot 50 percent (11-of-22) from downtown against Brazil.

Croatia continues to do an outstanding job on the glass. They have won the rebounding battle in all three of their games. Croatia also limited Nene to just five points and 2-of-10 shooting.

Leandro Barbosa led the host nation with 16 points.

Up next for the Croatians is Nigeria on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. ET. A win guarantees them a spot in the next round.