Rolands Smits helped take Latvia to Olympic Qualifying final

The Anadolu Efes forward played a big role in Riga

Rolands Smits rarely gets a chance to play in his home country. The forward, who signed with Anadolu Efes Istanbul last month, embraced the fact that Latvia is host of one of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments by leading his country to the final on Saturday with a 59-72 victory over Cameroon.

Smith scored 7 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter as Latvia pulled away down the stretch after only leading by 3 with 10 minutes remaining. He added 6 rebounds for Latvia, which will face Brazil on Sunday for a ticket to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Smits was just 16 years old when he left his native Latvia to play professionally. The former EuroCup Rising Star Award winner spent a full decade in Spain and the last two seasons in nearby Lithuania with Zalgiris Kaunas. Now that a move to Türkiye is next, Smits came up big in what will likely be his penultimate game in Latvia for some time.

Rihards Lomazs, who played for Virtus Segafredo Bologna last season, paced Latvia with 20 points, while Davis Bertans contributed 12. Williams Narace led Cameroon with 14 points.

Brazil advanced by knocking out the Philippines 71-60. After trailing by as many as 12 in the first half and 27-33 at the break, Brazil turned things around with a 24-6 third quarter and never looked back. Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade big man led the way with 15 points and 11 rebounds.