Luis Scola delivers as Argentina crush Lithuania 102-79 - London Olympics Men Basketball Recap
Argentina cruised past Lithuania 102-79 in their first match at the 2012 London Olympics. Luis Scola was the leading scorer for the South American outfit. The Phoenix Suns power forward shot the ball 12 of 19 from the floor to finish with a game high 32 points.
However he was not the only NBA talent who shone for Argentina in the game. San Antonio Spurs star shooting guard Manu Ginobili finished the game with 21 points and 6 assists. His conversion rate however was not up to the usual standards as he could only convert 7 out of 17 attempts.
Carlos Delfino, yet another Argentinean NBAer, finished the game with 20 points; Andrés Nocioni managed his way to 10 points while soon to be New York Knicks Pablo Prigioni had 9 points with 6 dimes.
Lithuanians were led by Toronto Raptors forward Linas Kleiza, who recorded 20 points while Paulius Jankunas had 14.
Argentineans stamped their authority on the game from the get go as they held an 8-2 advantage, early. But the Europeans rallied and midway through the first period, the game was level at 14.
Lithuania, paced by Kleiza, were able to keep the game close at the end of first period with Argentina only leading by a single point, 23-22. It took Argentina about 6 and a half minutes in second stanza to gain a comfortable double-digit lead, courtesy of a 14-7 scoring run up until the 3:41 mark in the frame.
The lead remained in double figures for the remaining time in the first half as the South Americans never really took their foot off the pedal. The scores at the end of the first half were 51-39 lead.
A 12-2 Argentina run early in the third really knocked the steam out of the Lithuanians as the deficit grew to 20 points. The teams headed into the final quarter with Argentina holding onto a 78-61 lead and nearly midway through the fourth a three point play from Luis Scola stretched that advantage to 91-69.
The game was pretty much over by that point and the Argentineans eventually won by 23.
Tags: