The question going into Saturday's game was which team would walk out of the match victorious and remain with their perfect record. The Men's Russian basketball team answered that question today after defeating the Spanish squad in a close one, 77-74.
The worst news for Spain is the way they lost after holding a 17-point lead in the first quarter.
With a heavy offensive assault in the second quarter, Russia rallied back from the deficit and cut the lead to eight by half. Then in the third quarter they only gave up 13 points and scored 24 to take the lead.
Both Russia and Spain took their time to find their rhythm in the last quarter. Russia was up by three with a 56-53 lead before Spain went on a 16-4 run that gave them a nine-point lead.
Russia then scored six unanswered points to cut the lead to three with just over three minutes remaining. Victor Khryapa from Russia hit the tying three making the game 73-73 with a minute left to play.
Russia scored four of the last six points of the game and claimed the victory to remain perfect.
Vitaliy Fridzon scored a game high 24 points. Anton Pokfrashov had a double-double as he scored 14 points and collected 11 rebounds.
For Spain, Pau Gasol continued playing stella basketball, scoring 20 points on 8/12 shooting from the floor. Unfortunately, his outstanding performance was not enought to guide his team to victory.
