ACOG - News - IBM

Olympic Basketball Recaps: 26 July (Day 7)

Men's Basketball Preliminaries / Group A

ARG vs. CRO

Croatia Assures Medal Round Play With Victory Over Argentina

Croatia's 90-75 win over Argentina on Friday night all but assured them a spot in the medal round. Croatia, now 3-1 in Group A play, is one game behind the undefeated United States squad and one game ahead of two teams which are 2-2 in the standings.

At the beginning of the game, Argentina jumped out to a 4-0 lead on Luis VILLAR's jump shot with 19:05 left to play in the opening half. Croatia's Arijan KOMAZEC tied the game with a lay-up and free throw to tie the game at 4-4 with 18:03 to play. It was downhill from there for Argentina as Croatia gradually built a 43-29 halftime advantage. The Croatians went on to cruise to the win as Argentina could not close the gap in the second half. Croatia was led in scoring by KOMAZEC's 28 points, 21 of which came in the first half stretch that put the game out of reach. Juan ESPIL led Argentina with 17 points, while Jorge RACCA added 15 points.

Final Score: CRO 90, ARG 75.


Men's Basketball Preliminaries / Group A

USA vs. CHN

USA Finally Gets Off to Quick Start in Win Over China

Even though the United States men's basketball team was 3-0 in the 1996 Olympic Games, many were not impressed because of the slow starts the team had been getting. The first three games were all characterized by slow starts and then big finishes for comfortable victories. On Friday night, after getting a pep talk from the Vice President of the United States Al Gore prior to the game, the USA squad came out quick and cruised to a 133-70 victory after grabbing a 65-28 halftime advantage. The quick start was in most part to Scottie PIPPEN, who connected on three 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes of play and accounted for 15 of Team USA's first 25 points. Of the 27 first half field goals netted by the "Dream Team," seven were 3-point field goals and 14 were dunks. PIPPEN led the United States with 24 points, while Reggie MILLER set a USA Olympic Games record with five made 3-point field goals and eight 3-point attempts. LIU Yu-dong led China with 17 points. As a special note, the largest roar from the record crowd came during a second half time-out when Charles BARKLEY (USA) led the 34,417 fans to the song "YMCA."

Final Score: USA 133, CHN 70.


Men's Basketball Preliminaries / Group B

KOR vs. GRE

Greece Records Easy Victory Over Korea.

Greece raised its record in Group B to 3-1 and is in a great position to move into the medal round after a 108-86 win over Greece. Fragiskos ALVERTIS (GRE) tipped in a shot by Panayotis FASSOULAS (GRE) just 12 seconds into the game to give Greece a lead that it would never relinquish. Korea was able to keep the margin in single-digits through the first 10 minutes, but then Greece blew the game wide open. Greece, which will meet the 3-1 Australians on Sunday, was led by Giorgos SIGALAS' 22 points. Korea, now 0-4 in the 1996 Olympic Games, was led by HYUN Joo-Yeop's 24 points and JUNG Jae-Kun's 20 points.

Final Score: GRE 108, KOR 86.


Men's Basketball Preliminaries / Group B

YUG vs. BRA

Yugoslavia Remains Undefeated With Big Win Over Brazil.

Yugoslavia remained one of only two undefeated teams left in the 1996 Olympic Games with a 101-82 victory over Brazil. The United States, which is in Group A, is the only other undefeated team. Yugoslavia turned what most people expected to be a competitive game into a blowout early as it opened the game with a 16-4 run. Brazil, which had the highest scoring average (96.3 ppg) of any team in these Olympic Games, came back with an 18-10 run of it own to close the gap to four points. But, that is as close as the Brazilians could get as Yugoslavia's defense tightened and the fast-break offense took control of the game. Predrag DANILOVIC (YUG) led all scorers with 21 points. Caio CASSIOLATO led Brazil with 19 points. International scoring sensation Oscar SCHMIDT (BRA), who entered the game averaging 33.7 points per game in the 1996 Olympic Games, was held to only 14 points.

Final Score: YUG 101, BRA 82.

See story


Men's Basketball Preliminaries / Group B

PUR vs. AUS

Australia Pulls Out Victory Over Puerto Rico for 3-1 Record in Group B.

For the third time in the 1996 Olympic Games, Australia scored more than 100 points in a game and walked off of the court with a victory. In a tightly-contested game, Australia pulled out a 101-96 win over Puerto Rico to remain in second place in Group B behind the undefeated squad from Yugoslavia. The game was close throughout as neither team could build more than a 9-point advantage. While twice in the game Australia opened leads of 7 points, the majority of the game was played with the two teams within 3 points of each other. With 5:20 remaining on the clock in regulation, the score was tied 88-88. Australia then went on a 10-3 run to open a lead which Puerto Rico could not overcome. The Australians were again led by their backcourt duo of Andrew GAZE and Shane HEAL. GAZE tallied 29 points, while HEAL chipped in with 28. Jose Piculin ORTIZ led Puerto Rico with 30 points and 11 rebounds.

Final Score: AUS 101, PUR 96.


Men's Basketball Preliminaries / Group A

ANG vs. LTU

Lithuania's Medal Hopes Still Alive With Victory Over Angola

Lithuania entered the 1996 Olympic Games as one of the favorites to take home a medal. On Friday, the Lithuanians kept those hopes alive with an 85-49 victory over Angola. Lithuania, with NBA players Sarunas MARCIULIONIS and Arvydas SABONIS, entered the game with a 1-2 record after being upset by Argentina and losing to the United States. This game was never in doubt as Lithuania opened with a 19-7 run and never looked back. Angola managed to cut the lead to 10 points once, but trailed much of the game by more than 20 points. Arturas KARNISOVAS led Lithuania with 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field. MARCIULIONIS missed his second consecutive game with a knee injury, but was dressed and did warm-up with his teammates. The only Angolan player in double-figures was Angelo VICTORIANO, who netted 18 points.

Final Score: LTU 85, ANG 49.


Back to Sports News Recaps Index for 26 July.
This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department.


Return to the Olympic News Menu

Select another day:
Pre July 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 August 1 2 3 4 Post


Olympic Factoid
An estimated 5.3 million visted Centennial Olympic Park between opening day - 13 July - and closing day - 4 August, making the park the most single most visited Olympic site during the Games.