The 2016 Rio Olympics Menβs Basketball tournament heated up on Day 3 with Australia tripping Serbia even as France netted its first win and Team USA continued to roll.
*The following also appears on FIBA.com.
AUS over SRB, 95-80
Australia won a classic Olympic encounter against Serbia, 95-80, on Monday to go top of Group A. In a real battle that was closer than the final score suggests, the teams slugged it out with Serbia going in front by seven early in the second half. The Boomers kept their poise, "hung together" in the words of coach Andrej Lemanis, and rediscovered their rhythm.
Needing just a little over a minute, they knotted the game at 52-52. Australia didn't take the lead for good until early in the fourth quarter. Patty Mills drove past a couple of defenders, entered the lane and scored with a lay-up for a 68-67 advantage.
Lemanis's team outscored Serbia, 27-13, the rest of the way. 13 of Australia's 23 assists were handed out by Matthew Dellavedova. Sublime performance from the recently crowned NBA champ, who also had 23 points.
USA over VEN, 113-69
The USA started slow against Venezuela but picked things up in the second quarter, eventually rolling to a 113-69 triumph in the Olympic Basketball Tournament on Monday evening.
Carmelo Anthony came off the bench to spark the team with 10 first-half points and the Americans built a huge lead by halftime. They didn't look back as they improved to 2-0 in Group A.
Anthony, who leapfrogged Michael Jordan into third place on the all-time USA scoring list in the win. He had 7 of his 14 points in the decisive second-quarter run that put the USA on their way to victory.
FRA over CHN, 88-60
France bounced back from their horror show against Australia by beating China on Monday, 88-60. Nando de Colo scored 11 of his team-high 19 points in the second quarter, when Les Bleus took control of the game.
Leading 19-14 at the end of the opening period, the French extended the advantage to 42-23 by half-time and stayed in command for the remainder of the contest. Tony Parker had 14 points and 8 assists.
Nicolas Batum, trying to hit back from a poor game against Australia, set the tone for the French dominance on the glass in the second quarter. He had a game-high 10 rebounds to go with his 7 points and 3 assists.
All images are from FIBA.
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