FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2016: Tuesday Basketball Results, Highlights

France, Canada and Italy were among the squads to pick up victories Tuesday as the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments continued. The final three spots in the men's Olympic basketball event will get filled this weekend.  

The highly competitive nature of the action was the biggest takeaway. Teams from around the globe played six games during the second day of qualifying, and 12 points or fewer decided all of them, illustrating the small margin for error to earn one of those coveted Rio de Janeiro berths.

Let's check out a complete list of scores from the three tournaments. That's followed by an updated look at the standings and a recap of Tuesday's games.

Tuesday's Results

Event	Winning Team	Losing Team	Score
Manila	Canada	Turkey	77-69
Manila	France	Philippines	93-84
Turin	Mexico	Iran	75-70
Belgrade	Puerto Rico	Angola	91-81
Turin	Italy	Croatia	67-60
Belgrade	Latvia	Czech Republic	71-59

Manila Tournament

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	PD	PTS
-	Group A	-	-	-	-	-
1	Canada	1	1	0	+8	2
2	Turkey	1	0	1	-8	1
3	Senegal	0	0	0	0	0
-	Group B	-	-	-	-	-
1	France	1	1	0	+9	2
2	Philippines	1	0	1	-9	1
3	New Zealand	0	0	0	0	0

France, the fifth-ranked team in the world, got an early taste of what's likely to become a tense week. It's the most notable team not yet qualified for Rio, and although it picked up the victory, it could never pull away from a game Gilas Pilipinas squad.

The Philippines, which is serving as host of the event, raced out to an eight-point lead after the first quarter and had a couple of chances to make a run in the fourth. While the Blues ultimately held them off, it's a wake-up call for the rest of the week.

Euroleague MVP Nando De Colo led the way for France with 27 points and six rebounds. But it was his former San Antonio Spurs teammate Tony Parker—who chipped in 21 points and six assists—who Philippines head coach Tab Baldwin felt was the difference, per CNN Philippines.

"[Parker] took the game over midway through the second quarter," Baldwin said.

Andray Blatche tallied 21 points and eight rebounds in the loss. The Philippines will face New Zealand on Wednesday, needing a win to keep its semifinal hopes alive.

In Group A, Canada used a strong defensive effort to edge Turkey. It needed every bit of that success on defense because the Canadians struggled to find a rhythm at the other end, shooting just 45 percent from the field in the victory.

Cory Joseph of the Toronto Raptors paced the offense with 21 points and five assists. Cleveland Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson, fresh off winning the NBA championship, added 10 points and six rebounds while playing nearly 30 minutes.

Eric Koreen of Sportsnet commented on the effort from those two players after they only recently finished the long NBA season:

Canada is in a promising position based on its placement in the easier of the two groups. It should be able to lock up the top seed with a win over Senegal, but more comprehensive performances will be necessary to survive the knockout phase.

Turin Tournament

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	PD	PTS
-	Group A	-	-	-	-	-
1	Greece	1	1	0	+25	2
2	Mexico	1	1	0	+5	2
3	Iran	2	0	2	-30	2
-	Group B	-	-	-	-	-
1	Italy	2	2	0	+34	4
2	Croatia	1	0	1	-7	1
3	Tunisia	1	0	0	-27	1

One day after getting blown out by Greece, Iran let a late lead slip away against Mexico, and the team's Olympic hopes are over as a result.

Head coach Dirk Bauermann's team led by four points with less than three minutes to play thanks to a terrific second-half comeback. It couldn't get the stops it needed from that point forward, however, allowing the unheralded Mexican side to earn the crucial win.

Sid Ventura of Sports5 spotlighted the disappointing turnaround for Iran:

Greece and Mexico will play Wednesday in order to determine the top seed in Group A. It will be a good measuring-stick game for the Mexicans, who will be considerable underdogs.

Italy did a great job of defending home court in the group stage. It defeated Tunisia and Croatia by a combined 34 points over the last two days to earn the No. 1 seed in Pool B. That's important with Greece likely looming as the top team in Pool A.

Marco Belinelli scored 18 points to help move the Azzurri within two wins of the Olympics. Danilo Gallinari and Daniel Hackett both added 12 points and eight rebounds to help keep Italy in front during what was a hard-fought contest.

Meanwhile, Croatia will rue its missed opportunities. The team shot just 59 percent from the free-throw line (10 of 17) and turned the ball over 13 times in the loss. Now it needs a win over Tunisia on Wednesday, but Greece will likely be waiting if the 12th-ranked squad does jump that first hurdle.

Belgrade Tournament

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	PD	PTS
-	Group A	-	-	-	-	-
1	Puerto Rico	2	1	1	+4	3
2	Serbia	1	1	0	+6	2
3	Angola	1	0	1	-10	1
-	Group B	-	-	-	-	-
1	Latvia	2	2	0	+52	4
2	Czech Republic	1	0	1	-12	1
3	Japan	1	0	1	-40	1

Puerto Rico continued its impressive showing with a victory over Angola. The Gallos pushed the host nation, Serbia, to the limit in the opener before falling short. Backing it up with a 91-point outing Tuesday showed that effort was no fluke.

Dallas Mavericks guard J.J. Barea put up 18 points, seven assists and five rebounds in the win. Carlos Arroyo added 18 points of his own on the power of four three-pointers. Puerto Rico made 11 outside shots on 23 attempts as a team.

Noah Perkins of Pop Gates Media noted there's still room for improvement, though:

The loss puts Angola in a tough spot. It must now defeat Serbia in what amounts to a road game in order to earn a berth in the semifinals.

No team has probably turned more heads over the past couple of days than Latvia. The European side is only 35th in the world, but it advanced to the semifinals with a pair of convincing victories over Japan and the Czech Republic.

Dairis Bertans registered 18 points to lead the team in scoring for the second straight game. Janis Timma and Janis Strelnieks also reached double figures, scoring 13 and 11 points, respectively.

The Czech Republic must quickly toss the result aside and focus on its meeting with Japan. It's going to need a better showing on the offensive end after shooting just two of 15 from three-point range against Latvia in order to win Wednesday and reach the knockout phase.

All game statistics courtesy of FIBA's official site.