Spain stage a 2nd half comeback to down Russia 67-59 and seal a Final spot – Olympics Men Basketball Recap
The Spanish men basketball team reached the finals of the Olympics yet again when they defeated Russia 67-59 in the first semi final of the tournament on Friday.
Spain got off to a slow start and managed only 20 points in the first two periods. However, they turned the game around in the 2nd half, scoring 47 points, while limiting Russia to only 28 as they raced to a 67-59 victory
in a low scoring thriller.
Pau Gasol led Spain with 16 points and 12 rebounds, going 5 of 10 from the field and 5 of 6 from the foul line. Jose Calderon scored 14 points on a 4 of 9 shooting performance; Rudy Fernandez and Marc Gasol both added 11 points
as the Spanish side raised their intensity in the last 20 minutes of the game.
Sasha Kaun led the Russians with 14 points and 5 rebounds, while Andre Kirilenko scored 10 points and 8 rebounds. Anton Ponkrashov also finished with 10 points on a night when both Alexey Shved and Timofey Mozgov failed to get
going on the offense.
Both sides played a hotly contested first period which was a low scoring one considering their offense oriented game. Spain trailed 7-9 with 3:54 left in the first period, which was followed by a scoring drought for both teams
that lasted almost three minutes.
Vitaliy Fridzon scored a three pointer for Russia in the final seconds of the period to give them a 12-9 advantage going into the second period.
A two point shot by Kaun extended Russia’s lead to 21-14 early in the second period, as the Spanish side failed to find the inside of the rim.
Sergey Monya scored back to back three pointers, extending the Russian lead to 27-14 before Pau Gasol scored the next five points for Spain, three of which came from free throws as Spain closed the first half trailing Russia 20-31.
The Spaniards managed only 11 points in the second period, while Russia shook off their rust to outscore them 19-11 and take a comfortable lead.
The Spaniards however, took the court for the third period motivated, and quickly reassembled their offense, shaking off any initial nervousness they might have had.
Fernandez opened the scoring for the third period with a three pointer and by the time Calderon scored a three pointer with 8:44 left in the period, Spain had cut into the Russian lead significantly, trailing by 28-33.
Fridzon’s three point shot extended the Russian lead back to 9 points, but a 7-0 run by Spain capped off by two free throws by Marc Gasol had Spain trailing 38-42. Calderon scored another three pointer in the final seconds of the
period to close it at 46 apiece.
Calerdon’s three point shot gave Spain the lead for the first time in the second half, and the Spaniards scored four more points to extend that advanatge to 55-49.
The Russians managed only three points in the first five and a half minutes of the last quarter, going cold from the field. Calderon hit another clutch three as Spain began to run away from the Russians, extending their lead to
8 points.
From there on, it was smooth sailing for the Spaniards as they never took their foot off the peddle and cruised to a 67-59 victory in the end.
Spain had 22 free throw attempts compared to only 12 for Russia, and scored on 16 of those to take a 10 point advantage. Both teams were pretty much even in the other categories, with Russia’s scoring falling below the mark near
the end to cost them the loss.
Spain now await the winner of the other semi final between U.S.A and Argentina in the gold medal game, to be held on Sunday.
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