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John Calipari’s Dominican National Team one win away from Olympics

calipari-FF

Mike Miller

John Calipari has a chance to add another notch to his belt in 2012.

He already won a national championship and saw six of his players get selected in the NBA draft, but he has been focused on Olympic qualifying, where he has the Dominican National Basketball Team one win away from its first ever berth in the Olympics.

The Dominican Republic erased a 20-point first-half deficit to beat Macedonia, 86-76, in the Olympic qualifying quarterfinal Friday night.

Calipari’s team now faces the winner of the last quarterfinal game, Lithuania, in the semifinal. Russia and Nigeria meet in the other semifinal.

A win in the semifinal or the consolation game Sunday would place the Dominican Republic in the London field.

The Dominican team features Atlanta Hawks forward Al Horford, who had 14 points in the win over Macedonia, along with former Louisville guard Edgar Sosa.

Sacramento Kings guard Francisco Garcia led the way with 28 points Friday night.

Ronald Ramon, formerly of the University of Pittsburgh, added 13 points.

Calipari and the Dominican National Team grabbed the headlines before the qualifying tournament after it was announced that rising high school sophomore Karl Towns would be part of 2012 roster.

Towns, rated by many as the top player in the Class of 2015, has played sparingly in this tournament, but the team as a whole is proving that they might have what it takes to punch a ticket to London.

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_