Spain holds off late charge by Great Britain to carve out a 79-78 victory – London Olympics Men Basketball Recap
The Spanish men basketball team survived a late charge by Great Britain and held on to win 79-78 here on Thursday night at the London Olympics.
Jose Calderon scored a team high 19 points for Spain, and Pau Gasol added 17 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists.
Luol Deng had an outstanding game as he fought hard to earn a victory for his side. He finished with a game high 26 points, 9 rebound and 7 assists. Joel Freeland also got into scoring rhythm, finishing with 25 points and 7 rebounds for the night. However, the rest of the British roster failed to contribute, with no other player reaching double digit points.
Spain started the game strong but Britain were right on their tail, and a three pointer by Luol Deng had them trailing 11-14. The Spainiards then scored 8 straight points to extend the lead to 22-11, and had a 24-15 advantage at the end of the first period.
Successive three point shots by Pau Gasol and Victor Claver had the Spanish team up 31-20 in the second, as Britain looked for a way to stop their offensive onslaught. Spain led 37-29 at half time.
Britain attempted to dig into the Spanish lead in the third quarter, making sensible plays to match the Spanish offense point by point. However, Spain rode on the back of their half time lead throughout the third period, and were never threatened by the British team as points came easily for them and they maintained their lead to enter the final quarter with a 60-48 advantage.
Deng was eager for one victory in front of home crowd and gave it his all in the final period, giving the Spanish side a run for their money. With Britain trailing 52-64 and a little over 6 minutes left in play, Deng went on a scoring frenzy. He scored 8 straight points for Britain and reduced the Spanish lead to 66-60.
A three pointer by Freeland then cut the lead to 68-63 as Britain made a push for a turnaround victory. Deng followed Freeland’s shot with another two point play as the deficit was down to 3 points.
The Gasol brothers sank three free throws but Freeland responded with 4 straight points. Calderon then stepped up for Spain by first sinking a two pointer and then scoring on both free throw attempts after he was fouled. Calderon was again fouled a few seconds later and again scored on both free throws, giving Spain a 77-72 lead.
Nate Reinking then hit a clutch three for Britain and it was a two point ball game with 21 seconds left in regulation. Calderon was again fouled and came through big time for the Spanish side when he scored the 5th and 6th consecutive free throw for Spain. Deng made matters interesting when he nailed a three pointer with 8 seconds remaining to bring the British side within one.
However, time ran out and Britain were unable to make one final play, as Spain held on for the 79-78 victory.
Spain went 4 of 17 from the three point line whereas Britain were 9 of 24 from the same distance. They had double the free throws attempts than Britain at 32, but sunk only 21 of those. Britain were 11 of 16 from the foul line.
The Spanish team out-rebounded the British side 43-36, and had a 22-12 advantage in assists. Britain, on the other hand, had 10 less turnovers than Spain at 12. With the loss, Britain’s hopes of qualifying for the next round are almost over as they drop 5th place in Group B.
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