Emanuel David Ginobili Saturday notched up 32 points to lead Argentina to a 97-82 victory over Iran in the Olympic men's basketball tournament.
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Luis Alberto Scola (C) of Argentina avoids defence during the match Iran VS Argentina in men's preliminary round group A of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Basketball event in Beijing, China, Aug. 16, 2008. Argentina beat Iran 97-82.[xinhua] |
Ginobili led all scorers in the game, hitting 10 of 14 field goal attempts and giving out four assists.
"It just happened. I made a couple shots, I felt good and started shooting threes and they all went in," the star guard said. "It wasn't premeditated."
The Iranians shot behind the arc, hitting four, but made only one of nine two point attempts amid a tough Argentina defence in a tight first quarter.
The lead changed four times and Argentines eked out a five points advantage by the end of the first quarter.
"Today we didn't play great," said Ginobili. "We rested a little bit, not because we wanted to, but that's the way it looked."
"We made too many mistakes," he added.
The offence of Argentina worked in the paint in the second quarter though an Iranian 6-0 run whittled the margin down to two points early in the quarter.
After Oshin Sahakian of Iran grabbed an offensive rebound with two seconds to play in the second quarter, Iranian Hamed Afagh Eslamieh scored two points with Iran trailing 42-33.
The Argentines, the reigning Olympics champion, prevailed in the third quarter with Ginobili hitting four three-pointers, leading 72-57, and stayed on the margin by the end of the second half.
"We were competitive for some parts of the game," said Iranian coach Rajko Toroman. "This is a great result to be within 15 points of a team like Argentina. It is a dream result for us."
"We expected this. It's our first time in the tournament and the teams play better," Mohammadsamad Nikkhah, Iran's forward, said.
"We practice very hard, but we're focusing on the experience of the games and the future," he added.
Iran qualified for the Beijing Olympics by winning the 2007 FIBA Asia tournament.
Argentina will takes on Russia on Monday when Iran meets Croatia.
(Xinhua News Agency August 16, 2008)