Georgia progressed to the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 after a 70-59 triumph over Venezuela, Wednesday afternoon at the Okinawa Arena in Japan.

Georgia, making their World Cup debut, finished Group F with a 2-1 win-loss record while Venezuela concluded the group stage without a victory.

After settling for a relatively slim 24-19 advantage at the end of the first quarter, Georgia broke the game open by holding Venezuela to a paltry four points in the second period.

That gave them a 42-23 advantage at the break -- enough to withstand a shaky second half that saw them score just 28 points. Venezuela locked down defensively in the fourth quarter, holding Georgia to just 11 points, but they could not get into any rhythm on the other end as well.

Tornike Shengelia netted 25 points to lead Georgia.

Nestor Colmenares had 16 points in a losing effort for Venezuela, which will drop to Group O in the classification phase with Japan and Finland.

Georgia will join Germany and Australia in Group K.

For more stories on the FIBA World Cup, click here.

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