SHENZHEN, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- France and Australia both edged its opponents on Saturday in the second round to book a spot in the final eight of FIBA Basketball World Cup.
With two big shots in the dying seconds, France managed to edge Lithuania 78-75 in Group L to reach the quarterfinals. Evan Fournier scored a game-high 24 points, and Nando De Colo contributed 21.
Earlier in the same group, Australia narrowly beat Dominican Republic 82-76. Patty Mills scored a game-high 19 points and nine assists for Australia.
Thanks to France's later victory over Lithuania, the Australians also sealed a spot in the final eight.
In Group K, Team USA contained NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to beat Greece 69-53 to step closer to a quarterfinal berth.
The U.S. can clinch a spot at last eight in three ways: a win over Brazil or a Greece win over the Czech Republic or on net points.
Also on Saturday, Czech Republic eased past Brazil 93-71 in another Group K game to keep its quarterfinals hope alive. Tomas Satoransky scored 20 points for the Czechs, Ondrej Balvin had 15 and Patrik Auda added 14.
In the classification round, Canada trounced Jordan 126-71 with an incredible 24 three-pointers, while Germany beat Senegal 89-78 to lead Group P.
New Zealand smashed Japan 111-81 to lead Group O, followed by Turkey who edged Montenegro 79-74.
