Serbia, Croatia win qualifying tournaments, advance to Rio 2016

Two of the three vacancies for the Olympic basketball tournament in Rio de Janiero, Brazil next month are now officially occupied.

Both Serbia and Croatia closed out their respective qualifying tournaments on Saturday to punch their tickets to this year's Olympic Games.

Host Serbia had no trouble getting past Puerto Rico in a 108-77 beatdown to take the qualifying tournament in Belgrade. The team was led by Bogdan Bogdanovic's (Sacramento Kings) 26 points and eight assists on 9-of-14 shooting, while Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets) chipped in 23 points, eight rebounds, and six assists.

Jokic was later named Most Valuable Player for the tournament. This comes nearly two months after he finished third in NBA Rookie of the Year voting behind Kristaps Porzingis and winner Karl-Anthony Towns.

Serbia will participate in an Olympic basketball tournament for the first time as an independent country since splitting from Montenegro 10 years ago.

Croatia's victory didn't come as easily as Serbia's, needing overtime to close out Italy 84-78 in Turin.

Dario Saric, who's reportedly set to remain in Europe for another season instead of joining the Philadelphia 76ers, had a double-double of 18 points and 13 boards for Croatia, while Bojan Bogdanovic (Brooklyn Nets) topped all scorers with 26 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Denver Nuggets sharpshooter Danilo Gallinari had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Italians.

Canada will battle France on Sunday to determine the third and final entrant.

Countries already slotted in for the Rio tournament are Brazil, USA, Nigeria, Venezuela, Argentina, China, Spain, Lithuania, and Australia.

Games will take place from Aug. 6-21.