Former Hofstra Men's Basketball player Rick Apodaca (North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen HS) and the Puerto Rico Olympic Men's Basketball team clinched a spot in the medal round with an 87-82 win over Australia on Saturday in a preliminary round game at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Puerto Rico improved to 3-1 in the preliminary round, ensuring it a top-four finish in Group B. The top four teams in each six-team group advance to the medal round, which begins on Thursday, August 26. Puerto Rico has also picked up wins over the United States and Angola in preliminary round play, while falling to Lithuania.

Apodaca, the first Hofstra student-athlete to ever compete in an Olympic games, did not play in the win over Australia. He did score five points and shot 2-for-3 from the floor in 11 minutes of Puerto Rico's loss to Lithuania on Tuesday, August 17. Apodaca also played one minute in Puerto Rico's historic 92-73 upset win over the United States on Sunday, when he officially became the first Hofstra student-athlete to take part in an Olympics. Former Pride wrestler Nick Gallo was an alternate on the United States Wrestling team in the 1976 Summer Olympics, but he did not compete.

Apodaca scored 1,422 points for Hofstra from 1999-2003, ranking him ninth all-time in Pride history. He is also second all-time in school history with 190 three-pointers made and was a second-team All-Colonial Athletic Association selection in 2001-02. He was a part of two NCAA Tournament teams with the Pride, including the 2000-01 team which finished 26-5 to tie the school record for wins in a season.

Hofstra also played a game at Florida International in the 2000-01 season, allowing Apodaca to play against current Puerto Rican teammate and Utah Jazz guard Carlos Arroyo. Apodaca had the better of the match-up, scoring 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting, compared to Arroyo's 18 points on 6-of-18 shooting, as the Pride won 78-50.

Apodaca was born in New York City and grew up in North Bergen, New Jersey, but both of his parents are of Puerto Rican descent. The Hofstra Men's Basketball team has continued with its Puerto Rican connection as two current members of the Pride -- sophomore guard Carlos Rivera and freshman guard Jorge Lebron are from Puerto Rico.