Slovenia bounced back from an emotional loss to Lithuania on Thursday in the preliminary round, which put them on the path of the powerhouse US towards the medal round.

Slovenia were sluggish at first, failing to put away the underdog Dominicans, who led for the most of the period, which ended at 15:15 after Slovenia's Jaka Klobučar scored with a lay-up at the buzzer.

The Dominicans went for a 11:4 run at the start of the second quarter (26:19), but Slovenia finally woke up and staged a huge turnaround, going for a 19:2 run on their own and closing the half with a 10-point lead.

Slovenia managed to increase the lead even further after the break, taking a 15-point lead midway through the third quarter and keeping a double-digit lead almost to the end of the period.

The last quarter started with Slovenia having a 6-point lead (54:48), and the Dominicans quickly cut it to two to make thing interesting, but the brothers Zoran and Goran Dragić took the match in their hands to make sure that Slovenia does not suffer another collapse like two days ago.

Zoran Dragić led Slovenia with 18 points while Goran added 12 points and six assists, while James Feldeine was the only player of the Dominican Republic to score in double digits, pouring in 18 points.

Centre Uroš Slokar thanked the Slovenian fans for showing up in a large number. "We wanted the win, regardless of what will happen in two days. It was harder to get over the Lithuania game".

Slovenia will have to days off before squaring off with the Americans in the quarter-finals. The two nations played a warm-up match ahead of the tournament, with the US beating Slovenia 101:71.