Host Greece posted an emphatic 119-62 win over Lebanon in its opening game of the Olympic qualifying tournament on Monday. New Zealand, Croatia and Slovenia also recorded victories while the much-fancied Germany, boosted by the presence of NBA player Dirk Nowitzki, will begin its bid to secure a place in next month's Beijing Games on Tuesday. The Greeks, runners-up at the world championships two years ago, were seldom troubled and opened up a 54-27 lead by half-time and continued to pile on the pressure, going well past the 100-mark. Kostas Tsartsaris was Greece's top scorer with 15 points. Their possible quarterfinal opponents New Zealand made short work of Cape Verde, romping away to a 77-50 win. Kirk Penney led the scoring with 25 points while Cape Verde's Jeff Xavier also had a fruitful afternoon with 22 of his side's points. Slovenia had to survive a terrific comeback by South Korea to win 88-76. The Slovenians looked home and dry when they led by 21 points in the third quarter but the Koreans cut the deficit to just five before Slovenia eased away at the close. Captain Radoslav Nesterovic had 26 points to lead his team to victory. Croatia, who is one of the favorites for a place in the last four, also got off to winning start with a comfortable 93-79 win over Cameroon. Twelve teams are taking part in the tournament with the top three qualifying for the Olympics. Angola, Argentina, Australia, China, Iran, Lithuania, Russia, Spain and the United States have already qualified for Beijing.
