Kostas Tsartsaris scored 15 points to lead five other teammates in double figures and pace Greece to a 119-62 victory over Lebanon on Monday - the first day of the final qualifying tournament for the Beijing Olympics.

Slovenia, Croatia and New Zealand also won in the 12-nation event that will send the final three teams to China.

Slovenia downed South Korea 88-76, New Zealand beat Cape Verde 77-50 and Croatia defeated Cameroon 93-79. The other participating teams in the tournament are Brazil, Canada, Germany and Puerto Rico.

Despite often being criticized for slow starts, Greece pressed from the opening tip and jumped out to a 21-6 lead after seven minutes.

Shooting 79 percent from the floor in the second half - and 73 percent for the game - Greece extended its lead to 86-41 by the end of the third quarter.

"Sometimes when you start a tournament, especially in front of an adoring crowd, you become nervous and you make hasty decisions," Greek coach Panagiotis Yannakis said. "This did not happen to us, as it has in other times.

"We were concentrated from start to finish and made few mistakes. We won't have such an easy time offensively (in subsequent games) but if we play like we did today we can control the tempo of the game and win."

Lebanon was held to 41 percent shooting, 32 percent on 3-point attempts.

"We are in the most difficult group of the tournament," Lebanon coach Fuad Abou Chakra said. "I am sure both Brazil and Greece will reach the semifinals, and Greece has set very high goals for the Beijing Olympics."

Earlier, Marko Tomas scored 22 points to lead Croatia over Cameroon in Group D.

Croatia opened the second quarter with a 16-2 run that turned a three-point lead into a 35-18 advantage. Cameroon never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Tomas hit a 3-pointer with three minutes remaining to put Croatia ahead 84-70, and end any comeback hopes by the Africans.

"The most important thing for us is a victorious start," Croatia coach Jasmin Repesa said. "The second period was the best we have played (recently). I am not satisfied by the fact that our opponents scored many points."

In the other games, American-born Jeff Xavier scored 22 points for Cape Verde, but the Africans trailed 21-4 after the first quarter and were overwhelmed by New Zealand.

Nine nations already have qualified for the Aug 8-24 Beijing Games: Angola, Argentina, Australia, China, Iran, Lithuania, Russia, Spain and the United States.

(Agencies via China Daily July 16, 2008)