Satoranský game-winner knocks Canada from Olympic Qualifiers

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Saturday afternoon, Chicago Bulls guard Tomáš Satoranský moved the Czech Republic one win closer to qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics with a last-second game-winner against Canada.

With the contest, which required one overtime, knotted 101-101 and less than 10 seconds to play, Satoranský dribbled to his right, stopped, rose and sunk an elbow jumper to put the Czechs ahead 103-101 at the 1.4 second mark. That proved the final score.

While it's unclear if Satoranský called bank, the shot was a gutsy one, especially given that it came over one of the NBA's premier perimeter defenders in Lu Dort.

In 38 minutes, Satoranský tallied 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists, shooting 6-for-12 from the floor and 3-for-5 from 3-point range, to lead the upset bid. Canada's roster featured NBA talent aplenty, including Andrew Wiggins, RJ Barrett, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dort and more, making their failure to qualify all the more disappointing.

The victory advances the Czech Republic to the Finals of their qualifying tournament — the winner of which will earn an Olympic berth. There, they await the winner of Turkey-Greece.

In the Group Phase, Turkey trounced the Czechs by a score of 87-70, led by familiar names to NBA fans including Furkan Korkmaz, Cedi Osman, Ersan Ilyasova and current draft prospect Alperen Sengun.

But whichever team meets them in the Final, Satoranský and Co. will be ready.

The championship game for the qualifying tournament is scheduled for Sunday, July 4 at 4:05 p.m. CT.

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