Canada beats Dominican Republic

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MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina -- Andy Rautins of the New York Knicks scored all 15 of his points on 3-pointers to lead Canada to a 73-72 victory over the Dominican Republic on Thursday in the Olympic qualifying tournament for the Americas.

Joel Anthony of the Miami Heat had eight points and 10 rebounds for Canada (1-1), which led by 21 points. Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks had 17 points for the Dominican Republic (2-1), which is coached by Kentucky's John Calipari.

In other games Thursday, Venezuela (1-2) beat Cuba (0-2) 106-69; Panama (1-1) downed Paraguay (0-3) 89-86; and Puerto Rico, the only 3-0 team, defeated Uruguay (0-2) 74-64.

Brazil and Argentina, both with 2-0 records, were off Thursday.

The top two teams in the 10-nation field receive berths in the London Olympics. The next three teams advance to a final Olympic qualifier.

Rautins, the son of Canada coach Leo Rautins, led the long-range effort that saw it go 10-of-23.

Francisco Garcia of the Sacramento Kings hit a 3-pointer to bring the Dominican Republic within one point late, but Canada held off the rally. The Dominican Republic was 6-of-22 from 3-point range.

"It was very clear that they took advantage of their 3-point shots and we didn't," the Dominican Republic's Eulis Baez said.

Carlos Arroyo of the Boston Celtics had 19 points for Puerto Rico, while J.J. Barea of the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks, added 14.

Jaime Lloreda, who played at LSU, had 34 points and 10 rebounds for Panama, while Gary Forbes, who played last season for the Denver Nuggets, added 25 points.

Greivis Vasquez of the Memphis Grizzlies had 21 points to lead Venezuela to its first win.

Pool play concludes Saturday. Eight of the 10 teams advance to the second round.

The semifinals are Sept. 10.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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