USA finishes unbeaten in FIBA preliminary round
Istanbul, Turkey (Sports Network) - Eric Gordon scored a game-high 21 points, leading the United States in a 92-57 rout of Tunisia to finish up an unblemished record in the preliminary round of the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook each scored 14 points in the victory, as the USA finished atop Group B with a 5-0 mark. Stephen Curry added 13 points, while Chauncey Billups contributed with seven points in the win.
The Americans will next play on September 6 against Angola, the fourth-place finisher from Group A.
"In practice we have to get better. In these next few days, we have to get better. On Monday night (against Angola), we need to be ready for that and remember it's one and done," said USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski. "If you don't win, you can't win it. It's kind of like the NCAA tournament."
Marouan Kechrid led Tunisia with 15 points, but the country finished 0-5 and was eliminated from the competition. Macram Ben Romdhane added 11 points in defeat.
Rudy Fernandez and Fran Vazquez each scored 19 points in Spain's 89-67 rout of Canada in the final Group D preliminary match for each country.
Jorge Garbajosa added nine points, while Ricky Rubio scored eight for Spain, which went 3-2 in the preliminary round and will advance to the round of 16, which begins on Saturday.
Kelly Olynyk led Canada with 14 points, but the Canadians finished 0-5 and were eliminated from the competition. Jevohn Shepherd added 12 points, while Jermaine Anderson had eight in the loss.
The Americans struggled in the early moments of the first quarter before going on a 13-3 burst that Andre Iguodala capped with a dunk for a 19-11 lead in the final minute of the opening period.
It was 19-13 after 10 minutes of play, and Tunisia kept it close going into halftime, trailing only 39-33.
Tunisia scored the opening basket of the second half before back-to-back three-pointers from Durant and Billups gave the Americans a 10-point advantage, 45-35. Eight straight points near the latter portion of the third opened up a 63-44 for the United States, which led by 17 heading to the fourth.
The outcome was never in doubt down the stretch.
Spain, meanwhile, got off to a quick start. Rubio capped a game-opening 12-2 spurt with a pair of free throws, and Spain took a 28-17 lead into the second quarter.
Canada was able to keep the game close, getting to within three in the final minute of the first half before Fernandez's layup gave Spain a 42-37 halftime advantage.
Spain held Canada without a point for nearly 4 1/2 minutes of the third, during which Spain went on a 10-0 run. Fernando San Emeterio's tip-in made it 59-44, and Spain led 63-48 after three quarters. The lead remained in double- digits down the stretch.
In other final day preliminary round action, Serbia captured top billing in Group A by holding off Argentina in an 84-82 nail-biter. Both teams finished 4-1 with Serbia winning the head-to-head battle. Also in Group A, Australia beat Angola, 76-55, with both squads advancing, while Germany handled Jordan, 91-73.
In other Group B contests, Slovenia got 18 points from Goran Dragic to move on via a 65-60 win over Iran, while Brazil handled Croatia, 92-74, as both teams advanced.
Host Turkey continued its strong showing by ending the preliminary round with an unblemished 5-0 mark atop Group C after pounding China, 87-40. Also, Russia beat Greece, 73-69, as both moved on out of Group C. Two eliminated teams saw Ivory Coast defeat Puerto Rico, 88-79.
Finally, rounding out Group D play was Lithuania's 84-66 win over Lebanon to finish 5-0 atop the standings. Also advancing out of the group were New Zealand and France, with the Kiwis logging an 82-70 win against the French Thursday.
