Alexei Shved scored 25 points — 13 in the fourth quarter — and Russia won its first medal in Olympic men’s basketball with an 81-77 win on Sunday over Argentina, whose players angrily confronted the referees after the final horn following a wild scramble in the closing seconds.
Andrei Kirilenko added 20 points and Vitaliy Fridzon 19 for Russia, which finished ninth at the Beijing Games four years ago.
Manu Ginobili scored 21 and Andres Nocioni 16 for Argentina, which was looking to add another bronze to its Olympic collection after winning one in China and gold eight years ago in Athens.
Fridzon’s layup with 5.2 seconds left sealed it for Russia, which came away with the ball after it changed hands several times near midcourt. When the game ended, several Argentine players surrounded referees Bill Kennedy, Jose Carrion and Juan Arteaga in protest and guard Pablo Prigioni kicked an electronic clock off the scorer’s table…
Down by six points early in the second quarter, Russia reeled off 12 straight points to open a 33-27 lead. Shved made a 3-pointer to start the run and Kirilenko, who will also being playing with the Timberwolves next season, capped the spurt with a jumper.
— Reported by the Associated Press
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