Olympic Beavers: Stephen Thompson Jr. Scores 7 Points in First Games Action For Puerto Rico
The Puerto Rico men's national basketball team fell to 0-2 at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday with a 107-66 loss to Serbia. A fun moment for Oregon State Beavers fans did come, however, in the form of the Olympic debut of Stephen Thompson Jr.
Oregon State's career leader in three-point shots made currently plays professionally in Puerto Rico for Vaqueros de Bayamon.
Thompson Jr. played nine minutes and 23 seconds for Puerto Rico, scoring seven points with a steal and no turnovers. Thompson Jr. finished shooting two-for-five from the floor and two-for-two from the free throw line. Thompson hit one three pointer and one two pointer in the loss.
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As a team, Puerto Rico shot 32.9% from the field compared to Serbia's 58%. Serbia center and reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds. With an 0-2 record, they sit at the bottom of Group C after a previous loss to South Sudan, in which Thompson Jr. did not play.
Puerto Rico will conclude Olympic group play on Saturday, August 3 with a matchup against gold medal-favorites Team USA. Tipoff is scheduled for 11:15 AM ET/8:15 AM PT.
Joe Londergan joined the SI brand in 2023 with G5 Football Daily. With over 15 years of experience in covering and working directly in college and pro sports, Joe's expertise has been featured in Front Office Sports, SB Nation, and XRAY.FM. He is a member of both the Football Writers' Association of America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association. Joe holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville and a master's degree in sports administration from Seattle University. Outside of his writing career, Joe enjoys golfing, although he admits that while he hits driver decently, his short game is a liability.