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Italy and Latvia claimed their second straight victories Tuesday to advance to the semifinals as group winners in their respective qualifying tournaments for mens basketball at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.In Turin, Italy defeated Croatia 67-60 in Group B. Marco Belinelli led the hosts with 19 points while Bojan Bogdanovic scored 26 for the 1992 silver medalists. Croatia can still reach the semifinals with a win in its final group game against Tunisia.In Group A, Francisco Cruz scored 12 points in the final quarter to help Mexico beat Iran 75-70. Despite a game-high 20 points by Behram Yakchali, Iran had its second straight defeat and was eliminated from the competition.Mexico and Greece have already secured their semifinal spots before playing each other Wednesday.In Belgrade, Dairis Bertans scored 18 points in Latvias 71-59 win over the Czech Republic to earn the Baltic state top spot in Group B. The Czechs will play Japan for the second semifinal berth.In Group A, Puerto Rico bounced back from Mondays opening defeat against host Serbia by beating Angola 91-81. Led by Carlos Arroyos 18 points, Puerto Rico saw a 27-point lead reduced to just 10 in the final quarter.Earlier Tuesday in Manila, France rallied from a 10-point deficit against the hosts to beat the Philippines 93-84, and Canada defeated Turkey 77-69 on the opening day of their qualifying tournament.Nando De Colo scored 11 points in the third quarter and 27 overall to help France overcome a strong start by the Philippines. New Zealand is the third team in Group B.In Group A, NBA point guard Cory Joseph led Canada with 21 points, while Turkeys Sinan Guler scored 14. Canada can secure a semifinal spot as group winner by beating Senegal on Wednesday.The winners of the three six-nation qualifying tournaments will be added to the 12-team draw in Rio. Adidas Superstar Cheapest Price . Toronto has dropped games to Indiana and Miami since a five-game winning streak and closed out a three-game road trip at 1-2. Adidas y-3 Store Uk . The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. http://www.yeezytrainersuk.com/yeezy-boost-uk-stores/yeezy-boost-350-wholesale.html . -- Three close looks at the bucket, three misses. Stan Smith Sneakers Wholesale . Catch all the action on TSN2 at 11pm et/8pm pt. The nine-time Big 12 champion Jayhawks are positioning themselves for another title, as they have run out to a flawless 6-0 mark in conference play thus far. Yeezy Boost Uk Website . Siddikur, whose previous win on the circuit came in Brunei three years ago, finished his bogey-free round with a birdie on the 18th for a total of 17-under 199. Indias Shiv Chowrasia, who has finished runner-up in this tournament twice, was in second place after a 66. EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Just over a month after being held to single digits by an FCS team, Northwestern has solved a lot of problems offensively.Justin Jackson rushed for 188 yards and two touchdowns, and the Wildcats moved the ball almost at will after a slow start, beating Michigan State 54-40 on Saturday night to hand the Spartans their fourth straight defeat.Clayton Thorson threw for 281 yards and three TDs for the Wildcats, who rallied from an early 14-0 deficit. Michigan State (2-4, 0-3 Big Ten) is now mired in its longest losing streak in coach Mark Dantonios 10 seasons at the helm.Northwestern has won three of four since starting the season with losses to Western Michigan and Illinois State. The Wildcats managed only seven points against Illinois State, but that seems like a long time ago now that theyve scored 38 against Iowa and 54 on the defending Big Ten champions.Our guys have really been grinding, Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. Earlier in the year we werent a very good team. ... We could either pout and feel sorry for ourselves and start to point fingers, or we could just stay on the grind and keep the pedal down.The Spartans hadnt lost four in a row since 2006, and this was the most points theyd allowed since a 56-21 loss to Wisconsin in 2003.Northwestern held Michigan State to 3 yards of offense in the second quarter.Theres no easy fix, Dantonio said.The Spartans made a change at quarterback for this game, starting redshirt freshman Brian Lewerke instead of Tyler OConnor, but Michigan States problems extend well beyond one position.The Spartans went back to OConnor in the third quarter, and he threw for 281 yards and three touchdowns, but Michigan State couldnt stop Northwestern (3-3, 2-1) with any consistency.Solomon Vault returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter to put the Wildcats up 40-31, and the Spartans never made it closer after that.Michigan State is off to its worst start after six games since 1994, when the Spartans were 2-4 and later forfeited away the wins.TAKEAWAYSNorthwestern: The Wildcats have to be encouraged by the ease with which they shrugged off an early deficit Saturday, and although the secondary was beaten for a couple long touchdowns in the second half, Northwestern will win itts share of games if it can keep creating big holes for Jackson.ddddddddddddIt was a good one today, but I think were just showing what we can do, Thorson said. Passing the ball, running the ball, everything.Michigan State: Dantonio shook things up by starting Lewerke at quarterback, then watched his defense give up so many yards and points it didnt really matter who was throwing passes for Michigan State. The Spartans were a mess on defense and still dont block well enough on offense to put together many sustained drives.Its almost like everybodys at a loss for words, OConnor said. We feel like weve been saying everything that we think we need to fix and working as hard as we can to fix it, and everybody understands that we need to get better.OConnor did do his best to reclaim the quarterback spot with his work late in the game.NEW FACELewerke had attempted only four passes this season before becoming the first Michigan State freshman to start at quarterback since Stephen Reaves in 2004. Lewerke opened the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Josiah Price in the first quarter, but the offense bogged down again in the second.Dantonio was noncommittal about his quarterback situation afterward.I thought both guys obviously did some good things, and both guys obviously did some things theyd like to have back, Dantonio said. So well look at it and evaluate it.TOUGH STARTMichigan State took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter when Justin Layne scored on a 43-yard interception return. That was the last touchdown the Spartans scored for a while.We knew that they were going to try and knock us out early. Their backs are against the wall, Fitzgerald said. We basically got what we expected, and it was disappointing with our start, but I really loved the way our guys responded. We didnt flinch.UP NEXTNorthwestern: The Wildcats host Indiana next weekend.Michigan State: The Spartans play at Maryland on Saturday night. If you dont count games forfeited from 1994, the last time Michigan State lost five games in a row within one season was when the Spartans dropped their first five in 1991.---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister ' ' '