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Olympic Basketball Recaps: 1 August (Day 13)

Men's Basketball / Semifinals

YUG vs. LTU

Yugoslavia Gains Spot in Gold Medal Game With Victory Over Lithuania

Yugoslavia's Predrag DANILOVIC scored six points in an 8-0 run over the final 1:19 to help his squad to a 66-58 victory over Lithuania. The win earns Yugoslavia a shot at the gold medal in the 1996 Olympic Games against the winner of the game between the United States and Australia. Lithuania will play the loser for the bronze medal.

DANILOVIC led a balanced Yugoslavian attack with 19 points, while Aleksandar DJORDJEVIC added 16 points. Vlade DIVAC (YUG) tallied 9 points, 8 assists and 3 steals. Rimas KURTINAITIS led Lithuania with 22 points and teammate Arvydas SABONIS added 14 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.

Final Score: YUG 66, LTU 58.

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USA vs. AUS

United States Advances to Finals For Meeting With Yugoslavia

After a close first half of play, the United States ran away in the second half to a 101-73 victory over Australia to earn a spot against Yugoslavia in the gold medal game. Australia will face Lithuania, which lost 51-41 earlier to Yugoslavia, for the bronze medal.

In the first half, Australia's backcourt duo Andrew GAZE and Shane HEAL came out smoking from beyond the 3-point arc. Australia held the lead for the majority of the first half and built a four-point advantage, 34-30, with 7:43 remaining in the first half. At that point, GAZE and HEAL were a combined 6-of-8 from "the land of three." Unfortunately for the Australians, that was the last trey that was to be had in the first half as they misfired on the next five opportunities. With the outside shot not falling for Australia, the United States outscored its opponents 21-9 the rest of the way to take a 51-41 advantage at the break.

Australia tried to stay close in the second half, but the talented United Sates team took over on both ends of the court. The second period turned into the Charles BARKLEY (USA) show as the power forward tallied 18 points and pulled down 8 rebounds in the period.

BARKLEY led the United States with 24 points and 11 rebounds, while teammates David ROBINSON and Shaquille O'NNEAL tallied 14 points each. GAZE and HEAL led Australia with 25 and 18 points, respectively. Center Mark BRADTKE pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds.

FINAL SCORE: USA 101, AUS 73.


Women's Basketball / Classification

JPN vs. RUS

BARANOVA, Russia Hold Off Japan For 80-69 Victory

Led by center Yelena BARANOVA, the Russian Federation, withstood a late Japanese surge for an 80-69 victory in the classification round of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games women's basketball tournament. Russia will now play Cuba for fifth place, while Japan and Italy will square off in the seventh place game.

Russia, which led the entire way, held a seven-point lead, 66-59, with 5:31 remaining on the clock. Five consecutive points by Japan's Mikiko HAGIWARA and a lay-up by Takako KATO with 2:55 on the clock closed the gap to 67-66. After each team exchanged baskets, Japan took a 71-68 lead on a lay-up by Elen SHAKIROVA. With 1:34 on the clock, Aki ICHIJO (JPN) launched a 3-pointer that bounced off the back of the rim and into BARANOVA's (RUS) hands. Japan went on to miss four consecutive 3-point attempts and Russia closed out the game with a 9-1 run.

BARANOVA (RUS) scored the third highest point total in Olympic Games women's basketball competition by netting 37 points. She also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. KATO led Japan with 19 points and ICHIJO added 10 points and pulled down 12 boards.

Final Score: RUS 80, JPN 69.


Women's Basketball / Classification

CUB vs. ITA

Cuba Downs Italy 78-70 With Late Surge

With the score tied at 61-61 with 6:52 remaining in the game, Cuba went on an 11-2 run to ease out a 78-70 victory over Italy in the classification round. Cuba will now play Russia for fifth place, while Italy and Japan will square off in the seventh place game.

The game was one of the closest of the 1996 Olympic Games, with neither team gaining more than an eight-point advantage. Yamilet MARTINEZ (CUB) led all scorers with 23 points, while teammate Milayda ENRIQUEZ pulled down 17 rebounds. Catarina POLLINI led Italy with 15 points and Viviana BALLABIO added 14 points and 8 rebounds.

Final Score: CUB 78, ITA 70.


Men's Basketball / Classification

GRE vs. CHN

Greece Destroys China With 115-75 Victory

Once the buzzer sounded for the tip-off, the gamewas over. Greece came out red hot and completely dismantled the People's Republic of China, 115-75. Greece now advances to play Brazil for fifth place in the 1996 Olympic Games, while China faces Croatia for seventh.

Greece held a 23-16 advantage with 11:19 remaining in the first half when it went on a 19-2 run over the next 5 minutes to blow the game wide open. During the stretch, Greece's center Panayotis FASSOULAS tallied 9 points and blocked one shot. China could never get the lead below 20 points again as Greece continued to blister the nets.

Greece shot 56 percent from the field and connected on nine 3-point field goals. The Greek squad also outrebounded China 53-29. FASSOULAS led Greece with 20 points and Theofanis CHRISTODOULOU tallied 11 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists. China was led by WU Quing-long, who netted 20 points on 5-of-6 shooting from behind the arc.

Final Score: GRE 115, CHN 75.


Men's Basketball / Classification

BRA vs. CRO

The "King" Leads Brazil to 80-74 Victory Over Croatia

Oscar SCHMIDT, often called the "King" of Brazilian basketball, tallied a game-high 32 points to lead Brazil to an 80-74 win over Croatia. Brazil now advances to play Greece for fifth place in the 1996 Olympic Games, while Croatia will face China for seventh.

Croatia, which trailed the entire game, pulled to within 2 points, 76-74, with 23 seconds remaining in the contest on a pair of free throws by Damir MULAOMEROVIC. Five seconds later, Demetrius FERRACIU put Brazil ahead by three, 77-74, by netting one of two from the charity stripe. With two chances at the basket in the final 11 seconds, Croatian star Toni KUKOC committed two crucial turnovers. Brazil hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final ticks of the clock for the victory.

In the first half, SCHMIDT (BRA) scored 12 points in an 18-8 Brazilian run to open play. SCHMIDT scored 24 of his point-total in the first half to led Brazil to a 39-27 lead at the break.

While Croatia could not stop the Brazilian superstar, fouls did as SCHMIDT picked up his fourth with 16:20 remaining to play. At that point, Brazil was ahead 50-36 and seemingly had the game in hand. Croatia then went on a 21-4 run over the next six minutes to close the gap to 60-54 with 10:16 remaining. As SCHMIDT returned to the lineup, Brazil began to score again and built the lead to 8 points, 76-68, with 2:08 remaining. MULAOMEROVIC then scored 4 points in a 6-0 run by Croatia to close the gap in the final 30 seconds.

Croatia was led by Zan TABAK's 18 points and 8 rebounds, while MULAOMEROVIC and Dino RADJA added 13 points each.

Final Score: BRA 80, CRO 74.


This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department.


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Olympic Factoid
More tickets were sold to the competitions of the 1996 Games than to any other Olympic Games or sports event in history. The 8.6 million ticket sales figures topped sales to the Los Angeles and Barcelona Games combined.