Spain held off Australia in a controversial finale to claim a 89-88 victory in the bronze medal match at Rio 2016.
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Patty Mills, who scored 30 points on the night was whistled for a contentious blocking foul with just 5.4 seconds to go, sending Sergio Rodriguez to the line with Spain trailing 88-87.
Former University of Utah center Andrew Bogut fouled out at the eight-minute mark of the third quarter.
The Boomers have been denied a historic first Olympic medal in heartbreaking fashion.
Defensive anchor Bogut had two fouls within the opening six minutes as the Aussies got into foul trouble and the Spanish shot nine free throws in the opening stanza.
Chiller praised the Olympic team as a whole for the culture and support they brought to Rio throughout the Games, but notably was reluctant to discuss swimming’s behaviour amid reports she’d been upset at some of their behaviour even before two swimmers were caught breaching team protocols in the second week of the Games.
Australia, however, kept their hopes alive thanks to a three from Mills and Anderson each, as well as a couple of free throws from the latter that forced the game to 40-38 by the end of the half.
Australia got one last play but couldn’t pull it off for a history-making medal.
Pau Gasol passes down the torch to Nikola Mirotic, who will more than likely help lead Spain with Ricky Rubio in the next FIBA Championships and the next Olympics.
“There’s a lot of disappointment and heartache in that lockeroom at the moment”.
Patty Mills scored 30 points for Australia, and David Anderson 15, while the Boomers played nearly the entire second half without Andrew Bogut after he had fouled out less than two minutes into the third quarter.
It is understood AOC staff were the ones handing out stickers to the athletes, but Chiller would not be drawn on who was responsible for her edict being ignored for the Boomers’ semifinal with Serbia.
The defeat was going to “eat at me” for a little while, Bogut said. “If the refs are calling it, you keep doing it”. It’s tough to play like that.
I think the Americans will win this one a bit more comfortably than the group game, but it’s far from a given that they have this in the bag.
Unsurprisingly, Australia’s highest medal tally of 58 came in 2000, when Sydney hosted the Games.
“But coming out of this game and this tournament, is that it’s no longer belief in what we can do – it’s knowing that we can do it now”.
The US men’s basketball team won its third straight gold medal and did it easily, beating Serbia 96-66.
“I told him after the game I look forward to playing with him in San Antonio”, Gasol said.
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“I can’t be any more specific at this point in time until we have completed our own investigation”.
