Chase Budinger and Miles Evans' Olympic run ended in the round of 16 against a team chasing its second straight gold medal.
The American tandem lost its beach volleyball knockout match against Norway's Anders Mol and Christian Sorum in straight sets (21-16, 21-14) at the Eiffel Tower Stadium.
Budinger, a former NBA player, and Evans went 1-2 to start out their Olympic debut before winning in the men's lucky loser round. Their win over Australia set them up with a matchup against Sorum and Mol, who won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Mol and Sorum will face Spain's Adrian Gavira and Pablo Herrera in the quarterfinals.
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Team USA still has another duo in the tournament. Miles Partain and Andrew Benesh will face Italy's Samuele Cottafava and Paolo Nicolai at 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT on Monday in the round of 16.
