Basketball
Argentina ruins Croatia's perfect record
(BEIJING, August 14) -- Defending Olympic champion Argentina cruised past Croatia 77-53 in a Men's Basketball preliminary group A game on Thursday, August 14.
This was a disappointing result for Croatia, who until now had maintained a perfect record in the tournament. Argentina stayed in the lead from start to finish, and a normally hot-shooting Croatia hit just 19 of 57 field goal attempts, and three of 15 from behind the arc. None of Croatia's players scored in double-digits.
Argentina was led by Andres Nocioni with 18 points and eight rebounds, and Carlos Delfino, who knocked back 15 points and six rebounds. Ginobili had 14 points and dished out a game-high eight assists.
It was the second quarter where Croatia was most effectively contained, netting only nine points in the whole period to go to the half 40-22 in the defending gold medal team's favor. Argentina only outscored Croatia 37-31 in the second half, but the damage was done.
Now that Croatia and Argentina are both 2-1 in the tournament, the teams go to their next two games looking for straight victories to avoid a fourth-place finish in the preliminary round. Coming in fourth would send a team to the elimination-style quarterfinal to face the United States, who is the likely winner of group B.
This was a disappointing result for Croatia, who until now had maintained a perfect record in the tournament. Argentina stayed in the lead from start to finish, and a normally hot-shooting Croatia hit just 19 of 57 field goal attempts, and three of 15 from behind the arc. None of Croatia's players scored in double-digits.
Argentina was led by Andres Nocioni with 18 points and eight rebounds, and Carlos Delfino, who knocked back 15 points and six rebounds. Ginobili had 14 points and dished out a game-high eight assists.
It was the second quarter where Croatia was most effectively contained, netting only nine points in the whole period to go to the half 40-22 in the defending gold medal team's favor. Argentina only outscored Croatia 37-31 in the second half, but the damage was done.
Now that Croatia and Argentina are both 2-1 in the tournament, the teams go to their next two games looking for straight victories to avoid a fourth-place finish in the preliminary round. Coming in fourth would send a team to the elimination-style quarterfinal to face the United States, who is the likely winner of group B.
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