ATHENS (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - Greece thrashed New Zealand 75-48 and cruised into a semi-final showdown against Puerto Rico at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Panagiotis Yannakis' team, employing full-court pressure, opened up a 15-5 lead midway through the opening period and gradually pulled away.

The Greeks, made 24 of 41 shots inside the arch and out-rebounded the Tall Blacks 41-27 in a convincing triumph.

Vassilis Spanoulis paced the Greeks with points while Dimitris Diamantidis had his best game of the qualifying event so far by pouring in 11 and grabbing eight rebounds.

New Zealand were just eight of 18 from two-point range and six of 28 on their three-ball attempts.

They turned the ball over 18 times to just 10 for the Greeks.

None of the Tall Blacks reached double figures, with Lindsay Tait scoring nine points and Pero Cameron eight to lead them in scoring.

FIBA