US on to semis, Aussies eliminated

Dwyane Wade （L） of the United States drives to the basket （Photo credit： Streeter Lecka/Getty Images）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

（BEIJING， August 20） -- Team USA advanced to the semifinals of the Olympic Men's Basketball tournament after knocking out Australia 116-85 on Wednesday， August 20.

The US team pressed hard on both ends of the court， grabbing 19 offensive rebounds and 38 defensive rebounds en route to a massive 57 boards， more than double the 28 on the Australian side.

Kobe Bryant led the winning side with 25 points and five rebounds while Lebron James poured in%26nbsp；16 points and nine rebounds. Carmelo Anthony netted 15 points， and Deron Williams and Chris Bosh had 10 apiece.

"We set in a little bit more defensively. Once we made that adjustment， we played much better，" said Bryant. "Our strength comes in waves in the second， third and fourth quarters."

The Oceania champion started fairly well， managing to deal with US full-court pressure in the first half and only trailing 25-24 after the first quarter. The teams went to the main break at 55-43 in the United States' favor.

The third quarter saw the margin further extended as Team USA came up with fantastic coordination to go on a 14-0 run shortly back from the half. Australia was unable to catch up with the US pace， conceding several turnovers which allowed their opponents to score more points on fast-break lay-ups. In the fourth period， a downtown three-pointer by Bryant made it 99-67 before James penetrated into the lane， draining a two-pointer and breaking 100 points.

"There was stage-fright there mate， definitely stage-fright there，" Australian guard Patrick Mills acknowledged. "In the end， you just have to see them （the United States） as ordinary players. You try to come out and put your best foot forward and see what happens."

Mills was the biggest contributor for Australia， scoring 20 points. Glen Saville weighed in with 13 points and Joe Ingles buried all of his attempts on his way to 11 points in 10 minutes.

Hammon, Russia downs China for bronze

Irina Osipova （L）of Russia looks to pass under pressure from Chen Nan of China （Photo credit： Quinn Rooney/Getty Images）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

（BEIJING， August 23） -- Chen Nan's game-high 26 points did not help the host team reach the podium as Russia rallied past China 94-81 in the bronze medal match of the Olympic Women's Basketball tournament on Saturday， August 23.

US-born Becky Hammon， who plays for the CSKA Moscow club and chose to compete for Russia shortly before the Beijing Olympic Games started， contributed a team-high 22 points and four assists.

Russia trailed 24-23 in the first quarter but went into the main break 52-39 thanks to 11 points from playmaker Hammon. Though the Chinese managed to narrow the margin to 11 points in the second half， they found themselves unable to shut down the sharp Russian offense and bowed 94-81.

"I feel upset. It is such a psychological fall. But we have done our best，" said a frustrated Sui Feifei of China.

"It has been 10 years （since I joined the national team）. I had thought this would be a chance （for a medal） and we wanted to go further.""

Beside Chen's 26 points， Bian Lan scored 17 points and grabbed six boards for China. Captain Miao Lijie netted 16 points and pulled down three rebounds.

Russia got double-digit baskets from four players with Hammon leading at 22 points. Tatiana Shchegoleva and Maria Stepanova sunk 15 points apiece and Ilona Korstin 11.

"I'm very happy. It was very important for us to win a medal，" said Korstin. "We came here to win the gold medal. We played an unfortunate game against the United States. But we fought for each victory， and we're happy to repeat what we did in Athens."

Photos: Russia beats China for bronze

Miao Lijie goes up for a shot over Ilona Korstin. （Photo credit： Quinn Rooney/Getty Images）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

Russia triumphed over host China 94-81 in the bronze medal match of the Olympic Women's Basketball tournament on Saturday， August 23.

Maria Stepanova lays the ball up over Bian Lan. （Photo credit： Jeff Gross/Getty Images）
Chen Nan drives to the basket. （Photo credit： Quinn Rooney/Getty Images）
Miao Lijie goes up for a rebound. （Photo credit： Jeff Gross/Getty Images）

Men's Basketball Day 2 Review: Spain spreads China thin in overtime

Spain takes China in overtime， where Yao Ming fouled out （Photo credit： Getty Images）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

（BEIJING， August 13） -- 2007 EuroBasket silver medal Spain got an overtime win， but European champion Russia did not fare as well， on day two of the Olympic Men's Basketball tournament on Tuesday， August 12.

Spain came back from trailing 14-points to force a tired China into overtime， where Yao Ming fouled out and Spain easily took the victory 85-75. The Chinese team is now 0-2， while reigning world champion Spain is even only with the United States with a 2-0 record in group B.

Spanish guard Ricky Rubio admits his team could have played better. "We started a little bit relaxed， thinking that China wasn't a good opponent for us，" he said. "We are the world champions but anyone can beat us."

China's Forward Li Nan ventured to guess why his team lost in overtime after such a promising second-half lead. "First， it's because of the decreasing physical strength，" Nan said. "Second， at the last moment， we doubted ourselves and hesitated on offense." He also noted that Yao's ankle wasn't completely 100 percent in time for Olympic competition.

While Spain won today， 2007 EuroBasket gold medal Russia was forced to split its record 1-1， as World No. 20 Croatia took its second consecutive game. Russia was leading in most of the first half， but Croatia closed the second quarter 42-36 and ran away with the score from there to an 85-78 final.

Now Croatia and Lithuania stand atop group A with 2-0 records.

Lithuania's game fell more to the category of "blowout." Lithuania beat Iran 99-67 in an even bigger routing than the United States vs. Angola game， which ended 97-76. Coming off a late win against Argentina， Lithuania was behind for the beginning of the match until point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius took over. His basket from in the paint ignited an 18-0 onslaught that carried Lithuania through the game. The 22-point high scorer of that match was Linas Kleiza， but Iran's center Hamed Ehadadi was on his heels with 21 points and nine rebounds.

That the United States took Angola was no surprise， but Angola was particularly handicapped by the absence of their star forward Olimpio Cipriano， who was still suffering from a shoulder injury sustained in his tournament opener against Germany. Angola's Carlos Morais led the game in scoring for 24 points， and the top rebounder was teammate Joaquim Gomes. Dwayne Wade led Team USA with 19 points.

With a strong defense that was able to contain the likes of Chris Kaman， the Greek team powered through an 87-64 pounding of Germany. Greece's Vasileios Spanoulis had a game-high 23 points， while Dirk Nowitzki topped the German team with 13 points and six rebounds.

Finally， defending gold medal Argentina got their first tournament win， defeating Australia 85-68. Argentina went to the final quarter 63-46， but the Boomers staged a terrific comeback to make it 74-64 on a 10-0 run. Manu Ginobili led the winning team with 21 points， while Australia's guard Patrick Mills scored a game-high 22.

Spain trails, in overtime prevails

Yao Ming （R） of China goes up for a shoot. （Photo credit： Meng Yongmin/ Xinhua）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；%26nbsp；

（BEIJING， August 12） -- China stunned Spain with leads as big as 15 points， but ultimately the world champion Spanish Men's Basketball team prevailed in overtime， 85-75， in an exciting group B preliminary match on Tuesday， August 12.

World No. 3 Spain's Pau Gasol was the game high-scorer， netting 29 points and grabbing eight rebounds. His teammate Rudy Fernandez contributed 21 points， eight rebounds and six assists.

China had four players finishing in double digits， including Liu Wei with 19 points， Zhu Fangyu and Wang Zhizhi with 15 points， and Yao Ming with 11 points.

The first half saw the two teams' scores neck-and-neck， reaching 11-10 midway through the first quarter and ending the whole ten minutes with Spain leading 20-18. China did a stunning job in the second quarter， gaining 28 points while Spain scored only 17. China made four three-pointers in this period， with forward Zhu contributing two of them， and Spain was left behind 46-37 at halftime.

China kept in good form in the third quarter， gaining 15 points， five more than the Spanish team. Wang Zhizhi， who came onto the court halfway in this quarter， put away a quick seven points in four minutes.

The fourth quarter， however， saw an increasingly tired China fail to meet a big push from Spain， who grabbed 25 points while China could only net 11. The shooting percentage of the Chinese players decreased sharply in this period，which spelled disaster as Spain jacked up their score. A two-pointer by Wang Zhizhi helped China to pull ahead to one final lead， 72-70， but with only one minute to go Spain was able to equalize the score and propel the game into overtime.

The crowd was behind them in a big way， but China's players could not maintain their performance and energy in the extra five minutes of overtime. On an attempted block against Spain's biggest weapon of the night， Pau Gasol， Yao got called for his fifth personal foul and had to leave the game early. A match that was filled with excitement came to a less than spectacular end， with Spain dominating the overtime and taking the game 85-75.

Photos: China loses to Spain 85-75 in men's basketball group match

Yao Ming （R） of China goes up for a shot. （Photo credit： Meng Yongmin/Xinhua）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

The group B preliminary round game between Spain and China in Men's Basketball was held at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium in Beijing， China on August 12， 2008. Spain beat China 85-75.

Rudy Fernandez （C） of Spain passes the ball. （Photo credit： Meng Yongmin/Xinhua）
Yi Jianlian of China hammers a dunk. （Photo credit： Wang Lei/Xinhua）

Photos: United States beats Greece 92-69

Dwayne Wade jumps past Sofoklis Schortsanitis of Greece to score. （Photo credit： Jeff Gross/Getty Images）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

United States had no problem beating Greece 92-69 in their Men's Basketball group B clash on Thursday， August 14.

Greece managed to keep the first quarter close， losing just 20-16. However， the United States kicked into gear in the second quarter and extended their lead to 51-32 at halftime. The third quarter was tight again， but the United States won 92-69 in the end.

United States now tops the group with three wins in their hand.

Dimitrios Diamantidis of Greece is closed down by Dwayne Wade. （Photo credit： Jeff Gross/Getty Images）
Vasileios Spanoulis of Greece is double teamed by Deron Williams and Chris Bosh. （Photo credit： Jeff Gross/Getty Images）
Sofoklis Schortsanitis of Greece holds the ball as Carmelo Anthony plays defence. （Photo credit： Jeff Gross/Getty Images）

Spain trumps Germany in Men's Basketball

Raul Lopez of Spain is closed down by Dirk Nowitzki of Germany. （Photo credit： Getty）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

（BEIJING， August 14） -- The World champion Spanish Men's Basketball team reversed a setback by beating Germany 72-59 in an exciting group B preliminary match on Thursday， August 14.

World No. 3 Spain's Jose Manuel Caldergon and Germany's Steffen Hamann were the game's high-scorers， netting 15 points apiece.

Alex Mumbru of Spain contributed 14 points and made all of his three three-pointers. His teammate Pau Gasol took 13 points and grabbed five rebounds.

Germany's backbone player Dirk Nowitzki got 11 points and five rebounds.

Germany led throughout the opening quarter， reaching its biggest lead of six points and closing 15-12. Spain was not in top form， finishing with a low shooting percentage. Germany managed to lead for most of the second quarter， but Spain caught up and grabbed the lead in the last two minutes， ending 39-36.

The third quarter saw Spain widen the gap over ten points and hold it through the remaining ten minutes. A last second two-pointer from Germany's Patrick Femerling cut the deficit to 11 points. Germany made tough resist in the last quarter， but was effectively contained by Spain， losing the game 72-59.

"They are a good team and they just made better offensive plays than us. We could have beaten them if we had played better." Said center Christopher Kaman （GER）.

US women overpower last-place Mali

Nagnouma Coulibaly of Mali（R）goes up for a lay up （Photo credit：Mark Dadswell/Getty Images） Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

（BEIJING， August 13） -- The United States thrashed Mali 97-41 in the preliminary round of the Olympic Women's Basketball tournament on Wednesday， August 13.

The defeat was inevitable against the defending Olympic champion， but on top of it Mali had to play without captain Hamchetou Maiga， who averaged 12.4 points in her two-game Olympic appearance. Maiga is out of the tournament for good after sustaining an ankle injury in Mali's game against the Czech Republic.

Despite playing minus-Maiga， the African champion managed to stay only one point behind the United States midway through the first quarter， but soon melted down in front of the aggressive US offense.

The US side got double-digit scoring from five players including captain Lisa Leslie， who led the team with 16 points， while Seimone Augustus netted 12.

"We were just trying to keep our level of play really high，" said US forward Tina Thompson. "We're building up to the medal round so we definitely want to stay at the top of our game.

"Mali is a very athletic team but they're kind of inexperienced in competition of this magnitude， so we wanted to just come out and be ourselves，" Thompson added. Notwithstanding

Aminata Sininta was the biggest contributor for Mali， burying 13 points. Fatoumata Bagayoko and Meiya Tireira had seven points apiece.

Despite the loss， Mali is trying to remain optimistic. ""We still have a chance to qualify because we still have two games to go； we will fight our best to win，" Mali center Meiya Tireira said post-game.

Photos: China enters quarterfinal beating Germany 59-55

Sun Yue （R） and Yi Jianlian grab the rebound. （Photo credit： Li Gang/Xinhua）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

China secured a quarterfinal spot after defeating Germany 59-55 in a breathtaking Men's Basketball group B clash on August 16.

Yao Ming tries to shoot. （Photo credit： Xinhua）
Dirk Nowitzki of Germany is guarded by Yi Jianlian. （Photo credit： Streeter Lecka/Getty Images）
Wang Zhizhi （Photo credit： Xinhua）
Steffen Hamann moves the ball while covered by Zhu Fangyu. （Photo credit： Streeter Lecka/Getty Images）

Photos: Argentina triumphs over Croatia

Luis Alberto Scola （C） of Argentina reaches back for a rebound. （Photo credit： Li Jundong/Xinhua）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

Defending Olympic champion Argentina cruised past Croatia 77-53 in the preliminary round of the Olympic Basketball tournament.

Argentina's players celebrate winning. （Photo credit： Meng Yongmin/Xinhua）

Photos: China advances into top four in Women's Basketball

Song Xiaoyun shoots. （Photo credit： Li Jundong/Xinhua）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

China advanced into the top four by knocking out Belarus 77-62 in the first match of the Olympic Women's Basketball quarterfinal on Tuesday， August 19.

Volha Padabed drives for a shot attempt against Sui Feifei. （Photo credit： Ezra Shaw/Getty Images）
Miao Lijie （R） dribbles against Tatyana Troina. （Photo credit： Li Jundong/Xinhua）
Anastasia Veremeenko looks to pass the ball against Bian Lan. （Photo credit： Ezra Shaw/Getty Images）

Defense carries China to quarterfinals

Chinese players celebrate their win. （Photo credit： Xinhua）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

（BEIJING， August 16） -- After an ugly but exciting fight， China secured a quarterfinal spot by beating Germany 59-55 in their group B clash on August 16.

Before the match， Germany sat in fourth place in the group with four points. China had the same number of points， but ranked fifth， due to a worse record. The United States， Spain and Greece are the top three teams with six points each. The rules for group matches are： 1） A win gives a team two points； 2） A loss brings just one point； 3） The top four teams move to the next round； 4） If two teams are tied in points， the team that has won their encounter%26nbsp；will move up in rank. Germany and China both had two matches left before Saturday， which meant that the winner of their encounter secured a spot in the knockout round.

Both teams started the game with great efforts on defense. China's Yao Ming locked down the paint， while Germany contested China's perimeter shooting. China took the quarter 19-9 by forcing Germany to miss 14 of their 17 shots. Dirk Nowitzki scored Germany's first seven points and Chris Kaman added two. Yao Ming scored eight points for China， while Sun Yue contributed two fierce blocks.

Germany recovered a little in the beginning of the second quarter， thanks to Sven Schultze's two three-pointers. After a 10-1 run， they reduced the gap to 20-19. China regained control of the game after a three-pointer from Yao Ming. Turnovers from tired Chinese guards， however， cost China its lead. Germany returned with a 22-8 second quarter， leading 31-27 at halftime. Yao Ming contributed 12 points and four rebounds in 17 minutes. China's sharp shooters Wang Shipeng and Zhu Fangyu didn't make a single field goal. Nowitzki carried the German team with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

China returned to their suffocating defense in the third quarter and finished 20-8， regaining a 47-39 lead in the end. China extended their lead to 54-41 three minutes into the last quarter， but Germany cut the gap to just one point with one minute to go after a 14-2 run， including 10 points from Nowitzki. Yi Jianlian then scored his most important basket of the game， bringing the score to 58-55 at the 28-second mark. Nowitzki tried to answer with a three-pointer but missed. Yao grabbed a crucial rebound and got fouled. Although he missed one of the two free-throws， Nowitzki turned the ball over in the next possession and virtually handed the match to China.

Yao played 34 minutes in the game， scoring 25 points and grabbing 11 boards. Yi Jianlian contributed nine points and 11 rebounds. Nowitzki missed 13 of his 20 shots， but still contributed 24 points and 17 rebounds. Kaman added 10 points and 12 rebounds.

The defense was what won this match for China. They held Germany to just 29% from the field and forced them to commit 14 turnovers.

Germany will face the United States in their final game and China will play Greece. If Germany can pull out a miracle win and， tie with China or Greece in points， they will still rank fifth because they have lost to both China and Greece （87-64）.

Photos: Australian Women's Basketball team defeats Belarus

Belinda Snell （No.10） of Australia fights for the ball with Natallia Marchanka （No.12） of Belarus. （Photo credit： Mark Dadswell/Getty Images）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

Australia defeated Belarus in the Women's preliminary Basketball game at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium during day 1 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 9， 2008 in Beijing， China.

Lauren Jackson （No.15） of Australian shoots a free throw. （Photo credit： Mark Dadswell/Getty Images）
Jenni Screen （No.6） of Australia goes up for a shot against Anastasiya Verameyenka （No.10） of Belarus. （Photo credit： Mark Dadswell/Getty Images）

US Men beat Australia in closest warm-up yet

Team USA are determined to win gold in Bejing. （Photo credit： CFP）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

（BEIJING， August 6） -- While the United States Women's Basketball team worked out a tough second half against Australia to win the Diamond Ball in Haining on August 5， the US Men's team was also challenged by Australia in Shanghai， where they won 87-76 in their final warm-up game before Olympic competition begins.

The US team was led in scoring by Miami Heat guard Dwayne Wade with 22 points and Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James with 16， but the team overall performed poorly from the free throw line as well as behind the arc， where they netted only three of 18 attempts.

Patrick Mills and Chris Anstey each scored 13 points for Australia.

The US team relied on a tight defensive effort， allowing only one basket in the last five and a half minutes of the first half， going to the break at 44-29. When they began to allow Australia several three-pointers and opened the lane to drives by players like forward David Barlow， the United States cut their own lead to only four points once in the third quarter， but eventually regrouped to a double-digit advantage.

Guards Michael Redd and Wade scored inside the paint at the beginning of the fourth， moving the United States' lead to 69-55， but Australia went on an 11-2 scoring run and narrowed the gap to seven points midway through the quarter. When Team USA got their feet moving， Wade managed to rack up some more points to finish the game 87-76， their closest friendly yet.

Two days earlier， the United States beat Russia in a warm-up by 21 points， while Australia had a good showing against defending gold medalist Argentina in the Diamond Ball for Men final， leading by 12 points at the half before losing 95-91.

Australia's superstar Andrew Bogut， Milwaukee Bucks%26nbsp；center and No. 1 pick in the 2005 NBA draft， wanted more time to rest a sore right ankle， but expects to be ready by Australia's first Olympic Basketball game against Croatia on August 10.

The United States will face China on their opener that same day.

Photos: US wraps up first Basketball round with 106-57 win over Germany

Carlos Boozer （No. 4） of the United States dunks. （Photo credit： Xinhua）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；The United States remains undefeated after trouncing Germany 106-57 on Monday in their final preliminary round match of the Men's Basketball competitions.
Kobe Bryant of the United States reacts. （Photo credit： Xinhua）
Dwyane Wade of the United States slams dunk. （Photo credit： Xinhua）
Michael Redd of the United States drives up. （Photo credit： Xinhua）
Dwyane Wade of the United States is fouled. （Photo credit： Xinhua）
Dwight Howard （L） of the United States is fouled by Dirk Nowitzki. （Photo credit： Xinhua）
Dwyane Wade （R） of the United States dunks against Steffen Hamann. （Photo credit： Xinhua）
Dwyane Wade of the United States is fouled. （Photo credit： Xinhua）

Photos: Men's Basketball preliminary

Chris Kaman （No.12） of Germany drives to the basket against Eduardo Mingas （No.15） of Angola. （Photo credit： Phil Walter/Getty Images）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

On day two of the Games， Men's Basketball preliminary matches took place at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium on August 10.

Jose Calderon （No.8） of Spain is covered by Panagiotis Vasilopoulos （No.8） and Theodoros Papaloukas （No.4） of Greece. （Photo credit： Phil Walter/Getty Images）
Ali Doraghi （No.4） of Iran shoots over Zakhar Pashutin （No.11） of Russia. （Photo credit： Phil Walter/Getty Images）

Photos: Women's Basketball preliminary round matches

Anna Montanana （No.12） of Spain goes up for a shot during the match against China. （Photo credit： Mark Dadswell/Getty Images）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

The preliminary round of Women's Basketball was played at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium during day one of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 9， 2008 in Beijing， China.

Amaya Valdemoro （No.13） of Spain takes the ball forward during the match against China. （Photo credit： Mark Dadswell/Getty Images）
Nagnouma Coulibaly （No.12） of Mali shoots over Lisa Wallbutton （No.10） of New Zealand. （Photo credit： Mark Dadswell/Getty Images）
Players watch the ball as a basket is scored during the match between New Zealand and Mali. （Photo credit： Mark Dadswell/Getty Images）

China's defense wins a close underdog victory

Spain's Elisa Aguilar López （Photo credit： Getty）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

（BEIJING， August 9） -- In their Women's Basketball group B encounter with Spain on August 9， China used tough defense to contain their opponents and win the game despite their 18 turnovers.

Spain ranks fifth in the world， and won the silver in the 2007 European Championship. The Chinese team， although backed by huge home crowd， rank only 10th in the world and were less favored to win.

China had a strong start， pounding Spain 9-0 after four minutes. All nine points were scored inside the paint except for one free throw. Spain quickly called a time-out， after which they responded with a 13-4 run thanks to three three-pointers. Both teams then went on with tough defense and finished the first quarter 18-15 in China's favor.

In the second quarter， China's defense suffocated Spain's perimeter shooting and China only gave up four points after five and a half minutes. Meanwhile， they scored 14 points， five coming from team captain Miao Lijie. China maintained their form and finished the first half 37-24.

Chinese center Chen Nan dominated the paint in the first half， scoring 10 points while grabbing eight rebounds， and Miao shot 80% from the field and contributed nine points. Spanish guard Elisa Aguilar López， who was playing in her 134th game representing her country， scored eight points in the first half.

Spain regained their shooting touch in the beginning of the third quarter. Forward Alba Torrens and Anna Montañana led their offense with sharp penetrations and accurate shooting. Thanks to a 12-3 run， they reduced the deficit to 40-36. China called a crucial time-out after that， coming back to score in all three of the following possessions， bringing their lead back to 46-36. However， several turnovers later on reduced their lead to 52-44 at the end of third quarter.

China started the last quarter with a three-pointer from guard Song Xiaoyun， but they couldn't stop Torrens from scoring nine points in six minutes. More turnovers continued to diminish their lead. After Torrens made her 14th point in this quarter at 1：02 minutes to go， the game was brought to a 65-62 last-minute showdown. However， center Cindy Orquidea Lima's turnover at 14 seconds buried any chance for Spain to come back. After two made free throws， China took the match 67-64.

Torrens was the top scorer of the match， netting 18 points with just 12 attempts. Anna Montañana added 13 points and seven rebounds. China's Bian Lan contributed 15 points and 12 rebounds， while Chen Nan also had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. China grabbed 48 rebounds the whole match， 13 more than their opponents. Their defense held Spain to 23% three-point shooting.

Photos: Lithuania beats Argentina 79-75 in men's basketball preliminary

Ginobili （L）， guard of Argentina steals the ball. （Photo credit： Xinhua）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

Men's Preliminary Round Group A game 10 between Argentina and Lithuania of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games basketball event was held at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium in Beijing， China， Aug. 10， 2008. Lithuania beat Argentina 79-75.

Players of Lithuania celebrate the victory. （Photo credit： Xinhua）
Luis Alberto Scola （front）， forward of Argentina passes the ball. （Photo credit： Xinhua）
Ginobili （R）， guard of Argentina vies for the ball. （Photo credit： Xinhua）
Fabricio Raul Jesus Oberto （L）， center of Argentina breaks through. （Photo credit： Xinhua）
Ginobili （L）， guard of Argentina passes the ball. （Photo credit： Xinhua）