If you thought that Group A of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2024-Riga was crazy, Group B was wilder.
After three days of competition, it was world No. 12 Brazil and No. 68 Cameroon who ended up advancing, knocking off No. 17 Montenegro.
The result came after Cameroon shocked Brazil, 77-74, Friday morning (Manila time) at Riga Arena.
Bruno Caboclo and Brazil will now face Gilas Pilipinas Men on Saturday, while Latvia takes on Cameroon in the OQT-Riga semifinals.
Entering the final day of competition, all Montenegro needed was an outright Brazil win or Cameroon routing Brazil by more than 15 points.
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Instead, neither of those things happened.
Jeremiah Hill caught fire for Cameroon, dropping a line of 22 points, six rebounds, and six assists to score the upset.
Montenegro defeated Cameroon, 70-66, on Day 2 while bowing to Brazil, 81-72.
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It was a bitter end for this cycle for Nikola Vucevic and Montenegro, who finished 11th in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Besides Caboclo, who is averaging 17.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, other players of note for Brazil are Leo Meindl (14.5 points), Lucas Dias (12.0 points), and Yago Santos (6.0 assists).
Cameroon, on the other hand, heavily relies on the duo of Hill (16.0 points, 8.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds) and Brice Bidias (13.5 points).
