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E-mail Xinhua, July 31, 2024
Matthew Strazel's game-tying four-point play in the regular time and Victor Wembanyama's eight points in the overtime helped hosts France escape with a 94-90 win over Japan in the men's basketball competition of Paris 2024 on Tuesday.
Trailing by 84-80 with 10 second left in the fourth quarter, Strazel made an off-the-balance 3-pointer and drew a foul for a chance to drag the match into overtime. The guard, who had 17 points, buried the following free-throw and saved France from the edge of the cliff.
Bilal Coulibaly (R) of France vies with Hachimura Rui of Japan during the men's basketball group phase group B match between France and Japan at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Lille, France, July 30, 2024. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)
Center Wembanyama, who had 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assist, stepped in to score France's first eight points in the overtime for a 92-84 lead.
Japan didn't score until Yuki Kawamura's 3-pointer with 34 seconds to go. Makoto Hiejima made another one to cut the deficit to 92-90 but eight seconds were not enough for Japan to turn the table around.
Kawamura had 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists, but Japan's top scorer Rui Hachimura was ordered to go on his second unsporsmanship foul at the start of the fourth quarter when he already had 25 points.
Germany, which beat Brazil 86-73 on Tuesday, have the same 2-0 record as France, while Japan and Brazil 0-2 in Group B.
Dennis Schoroder scored 20 points to lead the world champions, which will face France in the last round of the group stage.
In the match-ups of Group A, Canada won their second match by edging off Australia 93-83 while Greece lost their second one in row in the hand of Spain, 84-77.
Canada were the chasing side at the beginning as Australia led most of the first quarter, letting the game tying for three times during that period and held onto a slim 28-26 advantage.
The second quarter were more tight as it was tied four times and the lead was changed several times before Australia went to the locker room by 49-45.
Canada turned the tide finally in the third quarter, leading 72-70, and a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter gave Canada the first double-digit lead by 83-72 with 4:29 minutes left, while Australia never really closed in after that.
RJ Barrett led Canada with 24 points and seven rebounds, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dillon Brooks added 16 each. Josh Giddey had 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists while Jock Landale added 16 points and 12 rebounds for Australia.
Canada are leading Group A with two wins, while Australia and Spain each have one win and one loss. Greece are at the bottom with two losses.
Trailing as many as 16 points after the first quarter, Greece successfully kept themselves in the match as they tied it 71-71 with 4:35 minutes to go on the clock.
But Spain used an 8-0 run to pull away again and Greece didn't score in three minutes while the time was running away.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had 27 points and 11 rebounds, missed the potential tying 3-pointer by 80-77 with 24 seconds to go, and Greece had to accept another loss. Santi Aldama had 19 points and 12 rebounds for Spain.
