U.S. basketball rep takes another hit

By Kevin Tresolini

Gannett News Service

ATHENS, Greece - The United States' Olympic basketball reputation suffered another major hit Saturday at the Helliniko Indoor Arena.

Lithuania made the pivotal shots in the decisive minutes to pin a 94-90 loss on the Americans, who couldn't match their opponents with the game on the line.

The United States fell to 2-2 but has clinched a berth in the eight-team medal round.

Team USA led 84-81 after Richard Jefferson's three-pointer with 3:19 remaining, but Lithuania outscored the Americans 13-6 down the stretch.

Former University of Maryland guard Sarunas Jasikevicius ignited the comeback, scoring Lithuania's next 12 points on three three-pointers and three free throws. The turning point came when he made a four-point play, leaning in to force a foul by Lamar Odom while hitting a three-pointer as the shot clock neared zero, then tacking on the free throw for an 85-84 lead with 2:47 left. The United States never led again.

Jasikevicius, who missed a three-pointer that would have beaten the United States in the 2000 Olympic semifinals, scored a game-high 28 points. Lithuania made 13 of 27 shots from three-point range. The United States shot better from three-point range (8 for 21, 38 percent), but not nearly good enough.

"It's real discouraging," said U.S. captain Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers, who scored 11 points. "I thought we had the game. The game shouldn't have come down to that. We had more than a few opportunities to put the game away when we got big leads, and we just didn't do it. They did everything it took to win."

The second loss for this U.S. team equals the number of defeats the United States had in 14 previous Olympics, dating back to 1936. The United States is now 111-4 all-time in Olympic play.

Lithuania, which has only one NBA player in Darius Songaila of Sacramento, improved to 4-0 and clinched the top seed in the quarterfinals.

"It's a disappointing loss, to say the least," U.S. coach Larry Brown said. "But we are getting better. Lithuania connected shots when we didn't and handled the ball much better in the second half. We missed 11 free throws, some of them in crucial stages of the fourth quarter, and gave up 90 points, too much to beat a great team."

The United States concludes Group B competition Monday against Angola, and a win would give the United States the No. 3 finish in Group B and a matchup with Group A No. 2 Argentina in the quarterfinals, the single-elimination phase starting Thursday.

"They are still the favorite for the gold medal," Jasikevicius insisted, "because they possess the most talented and skilled team in the tournament. If they play as good as they can, they can win against anybody."

Lithuania shot 52 percent from the field to the Americans' 45 percent, and 81 percent at the foul line to 67 percent for the United States. Lithuania settled back into a 2-3 zone, inviting the outside shot.

Jefferson led the United States with 20 points and made three of five three-pointers. Center Tim Duncan had 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. The United States was hurt by guard Stephon Marbury's 1-for-7 on three-pointers.

The United States nursed a 49-44 advantage at halftime after leading by as many as 10 points during the first 20 minutes. It led by as many as nine by the third quarter.

"It was tough losing tonight," Marbury said. "In our situation, if we continue to play as hard as we played, I start making some shots, we get some more defensive stops, we know that we can still do it."