Argentina survive a 1st quarter scare to hand 92-69 thrashing to Tunisia – London Olympics Men Basketball Recap
On Thursday evening at the London Olympics, Argentina scored a dominating victory over minnows Tunisia by handing them a 92-69 thrashing.
The Tunisian side surprised the Argentineans in the first period, outscoring them 28-14. However, the South Americans responded in the second period to not only nullify their deficit but also take the lead, which they eventually
held for the rest of the game.
Manu Ginobili scored 24 points and 6 rebounds and Luis Scola finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists for Argentina. Salah Mejri had an outstanding game for Tunisia, scoring 19 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Mourad
El Mabrouk had 16 points for the night.
Argentina got off to a slow start, allowing Tunisia to compile a 7-0 run to open the game. The Argentineans failed to get their offense going while Tunisia piled points on the board. They scored 14 points in the final 2 minutes
and 37 seconds of the period to lead 28-14 at the end.
Argentina came out firing in the second period and went on a 15-0 run to take a 29-28 lead.
Tunisia responded with a 10-4 run, but 7 straight points for the Argentinean side put them ahead 40-38, and both sides went into the half time break tied at 40.
Argentina started the third period right where they left off and scored back to back to back three pointers to go on a 9-0 run and take a 49-40 lead in the opening minutes.
They then maintained a comfortable lead for much of the period, extending it to 15 points after Marcos Mata nailed a three pointer with 4:39 left in the period. Facundo Campazzo scored 4 straight points and extended the Argentine
lead to 65-46. Tunisia attempted to come back into the game with a 6-0 run, but Argentina did not allow them to make any real inroads.
They led 71-56 at the end of the period despite a three pointer by Mabrouk in the final seconds of the period.
The final period was smooth sailing for the Argentine side, who were confident after commanding a handsome lead to start the period. Argentina played their natural game and the points came easily, as Tunisia accepted defeat. The
Argentine side outscored Tunisia 21-13 to win the game with a margin of 92-69.
Campazzo finished with 12 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, making him the fourth Argentine player with double digit points for the night.
Macram Ben Romdhane scored 12 points and 6 rebounds for Tunisia, but his efforts were not enough to prevent a whitewash at the hands of the Argentine offense.
Argentina shot an amazing 50.7% from the field and went 11 of 17 from the free throw line. They had a 40-33 advantage in rebounds and a 23-15 advantage in assists. Tunisia turned the ball over 15 times, compared with only 8 for
Argentina. The loss was the third for Tunisia, who drop to the bottom of Group A and are almost out of the competition.
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