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Monday, September 2
 
Spain trips Turkey in second-round opener

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS -- Spain used the lessons it learned against Turkey a year ago to remain undefeated in the World Championships.

Spain played poorly on defense and lost last year to Turkey in the European Championships in an ugly game that saw Spanish coach Javier Imbroda ejected and several players fighting late in the game.

Spain shut down Turkey's 3-point game and beat Turkey 87-65 Monday to open the second round of the World Championships.

"We knew them before from when we played them in Istanbul,'' Imbroda said. "We studied their moves. They're difficult to stop, but we got it done today. It was an important part of the game.''

Turkey entered the game second in the championships in 3-point shooting at 45 percent, but went 4-for-14 against Spain. Hidayet Turkoglu, Huseyin Besok and Ibrahim Kutluay combined for nine points. Kutluay, who scored 35 points against Spain in the European Championships, was scoreless Monday.

"We knew Spain had impressive defensive power,'' Turkey coach Aydin Ors said. "We studied it and prepared offensive sets to run, but in the game we couldn't work them like we planned.''

Spain was led again by Pau Gasol, the NBA's rookie of the year with Memphis. He scored 19 points and Spain shot 12-for-24 from 3-point range. Gasol was averaging 20 points in three games entering Monday.

In other games Monday, it was: Argentina 95, China 71; United States 106, Russia 82; Puerto Rico 85, Yugoslavia 83; Germany 84, New Zealand 64; Canada 91, Lebanon 67; Venezuela 98, Algeria 83; Brazil 86, Angola 83, in OT.

Brazil 86, Angola 83, OT
Brazil, which was expected to win this one easy, scored the first six points of overtime to remained undefeated in the championships.

Brazil trailed with 8.9 seconds left in regulation, but Rogerio Klafke made three free throws to tie the score. In overtime, Angola had one last chance to tie the game, but Victor Muzadi's 3-point attempt from the corner went out of bounds.

Angola is in the second round for the first time in its fourth World Championships appearance.

"Maybe we were looking ahead,'' Brazil forward Sandro Varejao said, referring to Tuesday's game with defending champion Yugoslavia. "If we play the way we did today against Yugoslavia we'd lose by 40, 50 points. But we found a way to win another close game.''

Marcelo Machado finished with 25 points for Brazil, while Anderson Varejao had 13 and Klafke added 10, all but in the final 8.9 seconds of regulation and the overtime.

Edmar Victoriano led Angola with 22 points.

Argentina 95, China 71
China never resembled the team that challenged the U.S. and Yao Ming continues to play without any consistency.

Leandro Palladino scored 14 points to lead Argentina (4-0) over China.

Yao, the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, turned the ball over four times and scored 11 points in 28 minutes.

Menke Bateer, of the Denver Nuggets led China (1-3) with 12 points.

Argentina shot 64 percent from the field and 50 percent (11-for-22) from 3-point range.

Canada 91, Lebanon 67
Lebanon had a new coach but the same result: another loss against Canada.

Johnny Neumann was fired as coach of Lebanon's national basketball team for criticizing the country's government but the change didn't help as Canada cruised.

Rowan Barrett and Prosper Karangwa each scored 18 points and Canada used a 16-0 third-quarter run for its first victory of the championships.

Assistant Saskis Koryian will coach Lebanon the rest of the tournament.

"He made some statements in front of some players that hurt the image of Lebanon,'' said team manager John Mamo, also a member of the Lebanese Basketball Federation. "He should not have talked this way. He should not have gotten on national TV to insult the government in front of players.''

Lebanon fell behind by 16 in the first half but a 9-0 run in the third tied the score at 48.

Then Canada snapped a 51-51 game with a decisive 16-0 run. Karangwa and Steve Ross each scored six points during the run.

Joseph Vogel led Lebanon with 19 points and Eli McChantaf added 12.

Venezuela 98, Algeria 83
Victor Diaz scored 29 points to lead Venezuela to victory over Algeria in the classification semifinals of the World Championships.

Oscar Torres, who plays for the Houston Rockets, added 20 points for Venezuela, while Richard Lugo had 17 points and 16 rebounds.

Amine Benramdane was 7-for-11 from 3-point range and had 29 points for Algeria (0-4), which is making its first appearance in the World Championships.

Venezuela finished 11th in 1990, its only other World Championships appearance.

Puerto Rico 85, Yugoslavia 83
One of the oldest players in the tournament is still making a large contribution.

Jose Ortiz, 38, made two free throws over the final 2.1 seconds to give Puerto Rico a victory over Yugoslavia.

Ortiz, a former Pac-10 player of the year at Oregon State and first-round draft pick of the Utah Jazz, finished with 15 points and eight rebounds. He said he'd keep playing as long as he enjoyed the game.

``Why not? I love this sport and it's my life so that's why I'm here,'' he said. ``This one tonight is a very special reward for me.''

Daniel Santiago had 31 points and 10 rebounds for Puerto Rico (3-1)

Peja Stojakovic had 26 points for Yugoslavia (2-2).

Germany 84, New Zealand 64
Dirk Nowitzki, used to carrying the offensive load for Germany, had some help in its 84-64 victory over New Zealand. Mithat Demirel scored 14 points, and Misan Nikagbatse added 13 for Germany (3-1).

Kirk Penney had 15 points for New Zealand (2-2).

New Zealand was without Sean Marks of the Miami Heat, who will miss the rest of the championships with a blood clot in his right eye.





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