Croatia and Puerto Rico head into semis

ATHENS, Jul 18 (Reuters) - Puerto Rico produced a major surprise when they beat Slovenia 81-70 to book their place in the semi-finals of the Olympic qualifying tournament on Friday.

In the other early game, Marko Popovic scored 17 points as Croatia crushed Canada 83-62.

Puerto Rico will now face either New Zealand or hosts Greece in the semi-final on Saturday while Croatia will play either Germany or Brazil. The other two quarter-finals take place later on Friday.

Puerto Rico took the early advantage over the fancied Slovenians but the sides were tied 34-34 at half-time.

The crucial period came late in the third quarter when Puerto Rico, superbly led by Orlando Magic point guard Carlos Arroyo who scored 17 points, eased into a 59-52 lead and then held on in the final quarter to prolong their Olympic hopes.

Croatia had to work hard in the first quarter against Canada but by half-time they had opened up a 36-29 lead.

The match hinged on the third quarter as Croatia piled on the points, scoring 26 to Canada's 13 to open up a 20-point gap at 62-42.

"We struggled a bit with our game at the start of the tournament but since then we have got better and better with every game. If we continue like this we will have a big chance of qualifying for the Olympics," said Croatian centre Kresimir Loncar.

The winners of the semi-finals will qualify for Beijing along with the winner of the play-off between the two losing semi-finalists.

Angola, Argentina, Australia, China, Iran, Lithuania, Russia, Spain and USA have already qualified.

(Editing by Miles Evans)

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