RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 19 points and Serbia got its first Olympic basketball victory as an independent nation, beating Venezuela 86-62 on Saturday night.
Miroslav Raduljica added 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting for Serbia, part of an international basketball power in the old Yugoslavia but absent from the Olympics since 2004, when it competed as Serbia and Montenegro. Serbia became an independent country two years later.
The Serbians won a silver medal two years ago in the Basketball World Cup, but didn't qualify for the Olympics until winning a qualifying tournament it hosted last month.