Leandro Barbosa and Marcelinho Huertas pace
Brazil to a 75-71 win over Australia –
London Olympics Men Basketball Recap
Brazil took on Australia in the third game of the night and after facing a stiff challenge; the South Americans managed their way to a t75-71 win.
The Brazilian effort was led by NBA veteran Leandro Barbosa, who shot the ball 7 of 15 from the field to record 16 points. He was provided equal help by Marcelinho Huertas who contributed 15 points while Cleveland Cavaliers power
forward Anderson Varejao added 12 points.
Despite having four players making sizable contributions, the Australians were not able to contain the South American who shot the ball 41.2% from the field.
San Antonio Spurs player Patrick Mills recorded a game high of 20 points while Joe Ingles shot the ball 6 of 11 from the field for 15 points on the night. David Andersen had 14 points while Aron Baynes added 10 for the Aussies.
The Australians came out quickly and scored 6 unanswered points to open up the proceedings but the Brazilians did not let the game slip away. After trailing by 11-16 at the deep end of the first quarter, Brazil charged back with
a 9-5 spurt to close it at 19-20.
The South Americans continued to pile on the pressure and put together an 11-4 run to take a 30-24 midway through the second.
However the Australians were not going out that easy and pulled their way back within one by the time 36-35 after the first half.
The start of third quarter saw Brazil come out with a 6-0 run and after 2 points from the Australians, the South Americans followed that up with another 6 point unanswered run.
This constant mode of dominance allowed Brazil to take a double figure lead. However by close of the third quarter, Australians cut the advantage down 7 points only.
A 5-2 run to start the fourth quarter saw the South American advantage back to double figures. However the Australians were not out yet. They clawed their way back into the game and with 29 seconds remaining till the final buzzer,
the scores were 71-73.
Brazil had ball and grabbed the offensive rebound after a missed try, leading to Patrick Mills committing a personal foul which led to two free throws. With a bit over 5 seconds remaining, the Aussies were always going to struggle
and they missed twice from three point land to concede the game.
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