The 2016 Rio Olympics Menβs Basketball tournament continued on Day 2 with Lithuania escaping Brazil, Croatia upsetting Spain, and Argentina dominating Nigeria.
*The following also appears on FIBA.com.
LTU over BRA, 82-76
Lithuania nearly blew a 30-point lead against Brazil but the hosts' second-half comeback attempt came up just short as the Europeans came away with an 82-76 win in a raucous Carioca Arena 1 on Sunday.
Leandro Barbosa and Mantas Kalnietis, in equal measure, are deserving of getting the nod as heroes here. The former had a game-high 21 points and made a lot of plays to help Brazil get back into the game, while the latter scored 16 points, handed out 8 assists and most importantly iced the win with clutch free-throws at the end.
ESP over CRO, 72-70
Croatia wrote another dramatic and successful chapter in their sweet summer of 2016 by shocking Spain in their first game at the Olympics. Aco Petrovic's team trailed by as many as 14 points but clawed their way back and in a thrilling final quarter made the big plays on both ends of the floor for a 72-70 victory.
Dario Saric, whose fame is skyrocketing, preserved the win when he came from the weak side and blocked a game-tying attempt from Pau Gasol at the death. Bojan Bogdanovic was a constant scoring threat and finished with a game-high 23 points.
ARG over NGR, 94-66
Argentina took command early and rolled to a 94-66 victory over AfroBasket 2015 champions Nigeria on Sunday night at Carioca Arena 1.
In the last game on Day 2 of the Olympic Basketball Tournament, Argentina's iconic players Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola and Andres Nocioni thrilled a partisan crowd but the player that did most of the damage for the No. 4 team in the FIBA World Ranking was Facundo Campazzo, who had a game-high 14 points at the break. Coming off Argentina's bench, Campazzo was on his game and did a bit of everything, finishing not only with a game-high 19 points, but also sharing honours with Ginobili for most assists (5) while also picking up 5 steals. His shot was falling from long-range too, as he hit 5-of-8.
All images are from FIBA.
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