Men's Basketball
Bitee Stars for Cameroon at FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament
July 14, 2008
ATHENS -- Former Rhody guard Parfait Bitee, starring for his native Cameroon, scored 14 points and dished out six assists in a 93-79 loss to Croatia in the opening game of the 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, being held in Athens, Greece.
Bitee was 5-for-12 from the floor, including 2-of-6 from the perimeter. Cameroon - coached by former URI standout Lazare Adingono - was led by Harding Nana's 24 points. Cyrill Makanda was the only other Cameroon player in double digits, with 11 points. Former Georgetown center Ruben Boumtje Boumtje had a team-high 10 rebounds.
Cameroon will face Puerto Rico on July 15 in the second of two preliminary round games.
The FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for men will round out the 12-team field for the upcoming 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. Nine teams have earned berths: Angola, Argentina, Australia, China, Iran, Lithuania, Russia, Spain and the United States.
The 12 teams in Greece have been broken up into four groups: Group A: Brazil, Greece and Lebanon; Group B: Cape Verde, Germany and New Zealand; Group C: Canada, Korea and Slovenia; Group D: Cameroon, Croatia and Puerto Rico.
The top two teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals, which begin on July 18. For more information, click here.
