OQTM- Dominicans ride the wave into Semi-Finals

The Dominican Republic have staged a remarkable comeback to overwhelm the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD) 86-76 and move within one game of their first ever Olympics.

The game appeared out of reach when the trailed by 20 points with four minutes to play in the second quarter, but a crucial 11-4 run to end the half opened the door for a revival.

The hot shooting of Francisco Garcia then made the second half one to remember for their large band of travelling fans. Garcia finished with 28 points, 21 coming after half time.

Al Horford (14 points, 15 rebounds) overcame a horror first half through his hustle on the boards, while Jack-Michael Martinez (14 points, 13 rebounds), Ronald Ramon (13 points) and Elpidio Fortuna (9 points, 7 rebounds) all made valuable contributions at both ends.

For MKD, Bo McCalebb dominated the scoreboard with 35 points at 54%, but only Vlado Ilievski (16 points) and Predrag Samardziski (11 points, 13 rebounds) gave strong support.

The Dominican Republic opened the second half with a 12-2 run that brought the score to 43-40 and crowd to fever pitch, only to watch MKD extend the margin back to nine points.

A Ramon three-pointer closed the gap to three but McCalebb immediately answered in kind.

It wasn't until Horford - who was 1-of-10 at three-quarter time - finally connected on a jumpshot with 8:46 left in the fourth term that his team claimed the lead.

From there Garcia made the game his own, scoring 10 points for the quarter as the Dominicans showed great poise.

Triples from McCalebb, Ilievski and Vojdan Stojanovski kept MKD in with a chance, but the wave of momentum and emotion from the crowd eventually took its toll as the Americans closed a famous victory.

FIBA