Men’s basketball: Argentina routs Nigeria
Rio de Janeiro — Manu Ginobili got his fourth Olympics started with 12 points and an easy victory, as Argentina beat Nigeria 94-66 on Sunday in the final Olympic men’s basketball game of the night.
Facundo Campazzo led Argentina with 19 points, while flag bearer Luis Scola had 18 for the 2004 gold medalists. Patricio Garino finished with 15 in front of crowd filled with flag-waving Argentina fans who sang and chanted for much of the night.
After tight finishes in the first two games of the day, this one wasn’t close in the second half thanks to a balanced scoring effort by Argentina, which put five players in double figures. Andres Nocioni chipped in 10 points.
Ike Diogu scored 15 for Nigeria, the African champion. Pistons guard Miahael Gbinije had six points and three assists in 29 minutes, and Shane Lawal had one rebound in 3 minutes.
Croatia 72, Spain 70: Dario Saric blocked Pau Gasol’s shot just before time expired, preserving Croatia’s upset. Croatia scored seven straight points to take the lead down the stretch, then held on when Saric, who was still limping a bit after banging his leg on a pick shortly before the play, rose high to block Gasol’s shot under the basket.
Bojan Bogdanovic of the Brooklyn Nets scored 23 points for the Croatians, who got the tiebreaking basket from Krunoslav Simon with about 11/2 minutes left. Saric, the former lottery pick bound for the Philadelphia 76ers, had five points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Gasol had 26 points for Spain, the silver medalists in the last two Olympics, while Nikola Mirotic added 19.
Lithuania 82, Brazil 76: Mantas Kalnietis scored 16 as Lithuania held on after surviving a furious comeback from the host country. Lithuania jumped out to a 30-point lead in the second quarter, shooting a blistering 72 percent in the first half, including 6 of 9 3-pointers.
Leandro Barbosa played with constant energy in the second half, a trademark of the NBA champion’s game. He scored 13 of his 21 points in the third quarter, awakening the home crowd and creating a rollicking atmosphere down the stretch as the Brazilians sung and chanted in the stands.
Brazil picked up the defense and cut the lead to four late, but couldn’t complete the rally.
Paulius Jankunas finished with 15 for Lithuania and Domantas Sabonis chipped in 10.
Raul Neto had 14 for Brazil and Nene Hilario added 11.