Bkb: Host nation downs Australia in basketball

AAP General News (Australia)
08-16-2004
Bkb: Host nation downs Australia in basketball

ATHENS, Aug 15 AAP - Australia was held to a miserly three points in the final quarter
as Greece rode the emotion of a capacity crowd to defeat the Boomers 76-54 in the men's
basketball competition at the Athens Olympics tonight.

The Boomers looked in danger of being blown away almost as soon as the game began as
Greece raced to a 14-0 lead.

But the undersized Australians fought back, three times getting the margin down to
a single point during the second term, although they never hit the lead.

There was still only five points in it when CJ Bruton drained a three-pointer early
in the final quarter, but from then on it was all Greece, which scored the last 17 points
of the match.

Guards Shane Heal and Brett Maher had 12 points each for Australia and Andrew Bogut scored 11.

But the Boomers were hampered when Matt Nielsen got into early foul trouble before
picking up his fifth at the start of the final term.

The star for Greece was big centre Lazaros Papadopoulos, with a game-high 23 points.

The fans at the Helleniko Indoor Arena certainly got their money's worth, with Puerto
Rico earlier scoring a stunning 92-73 upset win over the United States.

AAP jds/sp

KEYWORD: OLY BKB AUST MEN LEAD FULLTIME

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