The two teams continued to play evenly through the third, with Argentina chipping away at Brazil’s edge until Argentina held a one-point lead towards the end of the fourth quarter. A Manu Ginobili rebound of a missed free throw led to the two foul shots that would seal the 111-107 double overtime victory for Argentina, which is now guaranteed a spot in the quarterfinals.
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Argentina assured its place in the quarter-finals by going to 3-1. Nocioni buried a triple to tie the game at 85 with three seconds remaining.
But the game would head to overtime after Brazil’s game-winning attempt wouldn’t fall.
But Argentina has four veterans from its 2004 Athens gold-medal winning side including Nocioni, Brooklyn Nets forward Scola, and four-time National Basketball Association champ Manu Ginobili, and they refused to buckle.
Brazil led by as much as six points in the first extra period but Campazzo’s slashing moves to the hoop brought Argentina back against a tiring Brazilian defence.
The back and forth in stands between Brazil and Argentina fans was strong, too.
Argentina dealt a blow to Brazil’s hopes of advancing, with forward Andres Nocioni scoring 37 points and guard Facundo Campazzo getting 13 of his 33 in extra time.
His fast-break lay-up with 36 seconds left in the first overtime tied it at 95-95 and triggered the second extension.
One day after Serbia almost forced overtime against the United States, Argentina and Brazil found themselves locked in a classic. Ginobili was solid, though not spectacular, adding 13 points, 3 rebounds and four assists.
Nene led Brazil with 24 points to go along with 11 rebounds, and his defending of Ginobili on multiple pick and roll switches resulted in the San Antonio Spurs guard forcing challenged shots in multiple instances. “We never wanted to lose to them, and they never wanted to lose to us”, – Brazilian guard Leandro Barbosa after his side’s loss.
In a game in which two Argentina starters fouled out – Nocioni and Scola – their bench was nearly useless.
The game came in the teams’ fourth games of the five-game preliminary round robin section of the Olympics basketball tournament.
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Brazil still has a chance to advance to the KO stage but needs Spain to lose big in their final game against Spain if Croatia loses all of their remaining games.
