The Slovenian basketball team was determined to lift Luka Doncic onto their shoulders and celebrate by carrying their best player around on the court.It's so fitting. They lifted him, and he lifted them.After winning 96-85 against Lithuania on Sunday, Doncic and Slovenia have secured a spot at the Tokyo Games. Doncic, who was named the MVP of the tournament held in Kaunas (Litauania) on Sunday, had a brilliant performance. He scored 31 points, 11 boards, and 13 assists. This is the first time a player has achieved a triple-double in any of the four Olympic qualifying tournaments.Doncic stated, "I don’t care about MVP." "We won here. This is our first trip to the Olympics. It's incredible. Every kid wants to be in the Olympics. It was something I wanted to do, too. We are here. We worked really, really hard to get here and I believe we deserved it.At halftime, the game was tied at 52-52. Slovenia won the third with a 11-2 run. Lithuania was eventually defeated 71-69 by Slovenia, but Doncic's team took control with a 14-0 run.Doncic raised his arms in celebration as the clock ticked down to the final seconds.Doncic stated, "We are making history for our nation." "We can only go up from here."Lithuania was one the four countries that hosted Olympic qualifiers. They ended Sunday with all four events being winner-takes-all events. Only one team from each region will make it to Tokyo.All four home teams, who figured to have significant advantages due to being at home, failed to make it to the Olympics. Slovenia defeated Lithuania in the final. Canada and Croatia lost semifinal games. Serbia, who are the current Olympic silver medalists was stunned by Italy in a regional final Sunday."A great disappointment." Darius Maskoliunas, Lithuania coach, said. "We lost at home. "We expected a better outcome."Slovenia will be in Group C at the Tokyo Games. This is one of three four-team Olympic groups. Slovenia will face Argentina on July 26, Japan July 29, and reigning World Cup champion Spain August 1. The Olympic quarterfinals will be decided by the top two teams from each group plus two wildcards.Doncic stated, "It's just one the best feelings." "We worked hard to achieve this."Vlatko Kancar scored 18 in Slovenia's win, beating out 16 points from Jaka Blazic (13 from Mike Tobey).Jonas Valanciunas and Arnas Butkevicius each scored 14 for Lithuania. It will be the first time that Lithuania has missed the Olympics since its independence from Soviet Union.Eimantas Bendzius got 11 points, while Marius Grigonis scored 10 for Lithuania.BELGRADE. SERBIA REGIONITALY 102 and SERBIA 95: Italy invaded Serbia to pull off a surprise, eliminating the U.S. team that came in second at the Rio de Janeiro Games 2016.Nico Mannion scored 24 points and Achille Polonara 22. Italy made it to the Olympics for first time since 2004 Athens Games. They led by as much as 24 before Belgrade's stunned audience.Simone Fontecchio was 21 points ahead of Stefano Tonut, who added 15 to the score and Alessandro Pajola with 10 for Italy. The Italians will face Germany in Group B at Tokyo Olympics. Australia is on July 28, and Nigeria is on July 31.Danilo Andjusic was 27th for Serbia. Filip Petrusev was 22nd and Ognjen Didbric was 17.SPLIT, ROATIA REGIONGERMANY 75 and BRAZIL 64. Moritz Wagner scored 28 points for Germany, which is returning to the Olympics after beating Brazil in the qualifying tournament in Split.Robin Benzing was 13 points ahead of Maodo lo (10 for Germany), which is chasing its first Olympic men's basketball gold.Germany will face Italy on July 25, Nigerian on July 28, and Australia on the 31st of July.Anderson Varejao was awarded 14 points, while Alex Garcia scored 10 for Brazil.
