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Breathing room U.S. stops Argentina 91-63 to take Goodwill gold
Updated: Sunday September 09, 2001 2:59 AM BRISBANE, Australia (AP) -- The United States bounced back from a near-upset in the semifinals to win the basketball gold medal at the Goodwill Games on Sunday, defeating Argentina 91-63. Playing strong defensively and taking advantage of sloppy play and poor shooting by Argentina, the Americans scored 16 fast-break points off steals and bad passes before the half. At the same time, Argentina went scoreless for nine minutes, with their score frozen at 12 from near the end of the first quarter until there was 2:55 left in the second. The United States led 47-20 at halftime. "I think that scoreless spell really destroyed their confidence," said coach Flip Saunders of the Minnesota Timberwolves. "It made them realize we were playing extremely well defensively." The United States came close to losing their semifinal Saturday to Brazil, winning 106-98 in overtime. On Sunday, it was a different story -- the Americans were polished and played well as a team. "We wanted to come out and play tough defense, and we did," said Phoenix Suns forward Shawn Marion, who scored 11 first-half points. "They were really frustrated." Jermaine O'Neal led the Americans with 14 points while Marion finished with 13. "I think today we showed we could come back and play better as a team," said O'Neal, who plays for Indiana Pacers. Argentina shot only 2 of 7 from the floor in the third quarter, allowing the Americans to take a 66-37 lead. In the round-robin portion of the tournament, the United States had beaten Argentina by 30 points. Brazil won the bronze medal earlier Sunday, again going to overtime to beat Australia 94-93. Brazil led 42-38 at halftime despite a 15-3 Australian run in the second quarter. Australia went into the fourth quarter trailing by five points but caught the Brazilians at 86-86 to send the game into overtime. Heli Garcia made the winning three-point shot with less than 10 seconds left in overtime. He finished with 25 points while Ben Knight led Australia with 19. "I was lucky it went in -- I was very glad to have made it," Garcia said of his winning basket. "Today our team came to the floor very tired but we played our hearts out."
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