Men's Basketball Day 4 Review: Australia and China pull through in the clutch

(BEIJING, August 16) -- Australia and China racked up key wins, and Lithuania and the United States secured their top seed positions in their respective groups, on day four of Olympic Men's Basketball on Saturday, August 16.

Group A

The big stunner of day four was Oceania champion Australia sunk the 2007 EuroBasket winner Russia 95-80. Australia's NBA star Andrew Bogut finally made his big showing of the preliminaries in this game, leading with 22 points and grabbing eight rebounds. This win could send Australia to the quarterfinal, and leaves Russia in fifth place for now. If Russia can pull a victory over Argentina they might be able to stay in the mix, but according to the rankings it seems like Russia will exit after the preliminary round.

Lithuania extended their streak to four wins, with a return from behind for an 86-73 win over Croatia. Lithuania is second only to group B's United States in terms of both points scored and the differential between points for and against. This undefeated team has clinched the top seed in group A.

Argentina beat Iran 97-82 for the defending Olympic gold medal team's third straight-win, and their opponent's fourth loss. This should seal Argentina's second place spot in group A, behind Lithuania.

Group B

The most exciting game in group B today was hands-down China's close match with Germany, which the host country won 59-55. China is now guaranteed a quarterfinal spot, and Germany is shut-out of the knockout round, despite their double-double from both of the team's stars, Dirk Nowitzki with 24 points and 17 rebounds, and Chris Kaman with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Yao Ming led China with 25 points and 11 boards.

Greece was able to dominate Angola and further prolong the African champion's winless run. Greece sunk 10 of 17 from behind the arc to win 102-61. Greece now stands in third place in group B.

Finally, the much-anticipated face-off between world champion Spain and the United States quickly fizzled into a blowout, with the United States combining tough defense with aggressive offense to build up a 119-82 win. Team USA forced 28 Spanish turnovers, 17 of them in the first half where the United States led 61-45. Spain's shooting was not on, with six of 28 three-pointers made, compared with the United States' 12 of 25 from long range.