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Roundup Canada, Italy win in consolation games
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Steve Nash was the catalyst for Canada throughout the men's Olympic basketball tournament, right down to the final extra 10 minutes. Nash accounted for eight of Canada's 10 points in the second overtime of an 86-83 victory over Russia on Saturday (Friday night EDT) in the seventh-place game. Canada (5-2) won its pool with a 4-1 record and Nash was the reason. The point guard for the Dallas Mavericks came up biggest in the win over Yugoslavia that gave Canada the top seed entering the quarterfinals. He had 26 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in dominating that game in the second half. Against Russia, he finished with 14 points and three assists, but eight of the points came after regulation ended in a 69-69 tie. "He's a consummate pro. He's got passion and plays with a lot of heart and he's a pretty good player," Canada coach Jay Triano said of Nash. Nash, who looked exhausted after the game, talked of what could have been in Canada's first appearance in Olympic men's basketball since 1988, when Triano was the point guard. "If we had played well enough against France, we would have had a chance at a medal," Nash said, referring to the 68-63 quarterfinal loss in which France did a tremendous defensive job against him. "I think this group deserved for us to win this game. We deserved more than we got, so this last game was important."
Russia (3-4), which lost 85-70 to the United States in the quarterfinals, led 47-36 two minutes into the second half. Canada then went on a 19-0 run over the next 6:22 for an eight-point lead. Canada seemed to be in control with a 67-60 lead with 4:38 left, but Zakhar Pachoutine's rebound basket tied the game 67-67 with 1:34 left. Russia took the lead on Rouslan Avleev's fastbreak dunk with 39 seconds left. Canada center Peter Guarasci, who finished with 21 points, missed the free throw that would have completed a three-point play with 23 seconds left in regulation. Nash tied the game at 76 with a jumper in the lane with 1:21 left in the first overtime. He later had a chance at the win but his driving layup at the buzzer was late. He had an assist on Canada's first basket of the second overtime and then scored his team's next six points as it went up 84-78. Russia got back within 84-83, but Todd MacCulloch made two free throws with 12 seconds left to seal the win. Russia handed Canada its only preliminary round loss, 77-59. Nash was asked if he thought the solid performance in the tournament would make the rest of the world take note of Canadian basketball. "Hopefully some kids back home saw it and got some inspiration from it. Who cares what the rest of the world thinks?" he said. "We're disappointed we didn't get a medal and we did come awfully close. This whole experience was unbelievable and this group was really great to be a part of." Nash finished the tournament with averages of 13.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists. Pachountine led Russia with 23 points and eight rebounds. Italy 69, Yugoslavia 59 Gregor Fucka had 17 points and seven rebounds as Italy matched the fifth-place finish of its last Olympic appearance in 1984. Both teams played without its leading scorer because of injuries. Carlton Myers of Italy, who was fourth in the tournament at 14.3 points per game, didn't play because of a leg injury. Predrag Danilovic, who also missed the 76-63 quarterfinal loss to Lithuania, again sat out after being kicked in the leg in the final preliminary round game. Two minutes into the second half, Dejan Bodiroga, whose 11.2 average was just behind Danilovic's 12.8, went down with a knee injury and did not return. Yugoslavia (4-3) was within 40-39 51/2 minutes into the second half when Italy went on a 13-0 run with Fucka scoring seven of the points. The lead got as big as 62-43 with 6:06 to play as Yugoslavia went nearly six minutes without a field goal. Italy (4-3) lost 65-62 to Australia in the quarterfinals. Dejan Tomasevic had 13 points for Yugoslavia, the reigning world champions whose streak of winning a medal in their last five Olympic appearances end.
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