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.
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.
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