Australia 95: Russia 80 –  in a small upset, Australia rolled over favored-Russia 95-80.

The Boomers used a 10-2 spurt in the final two minutes of the first quarter to take an eleven-point lead after one period, and built it to a 16-point distance at halftime.

The Aussies were bolstered throughout the game by their  three-point shooting, especially  from their frontcourt players – their 7-0 NBA center Andrew Bogut was 2-3 from beyond the arc, as was the 6-11 Chris Anstey while 6-11 David Andersen was 1-1, and 6-10 Matt Nielsen shot 1-2. Together the Australian foursome scored 52 of the Boomers’ 95 points.

As we mentioned yesterday, this was a crucial game for both teams.

The outcome all but guaranteed that Russia would be joining Iran in not  advancing to the next round.  With one game remaining, Russia has one win, while Australia and Croatia have two wins. Both the Aussies and Croatians won their matches against Russia, so in case of a two or three team tie, Russia lose out in the head to head.

The Aussies on the other hand have seen their fortunes changed.  They started the Olympics with two straight bad losses against Croatia and Argentina.  From there they renewed themselves by handing Iran their largest loss to date, 38 points, and now convincingly putting down the defending European Champions Russia by 15, the Boomers have done an about face and are confident.

After hearing some criticism about his statistical performances in Australia’s first three games, Andrew Bogut finished strong against Russia with his best offering; 22 points and 8 rebounds in 28 minutes.  Included in Bogut’s point total was a moster slam dunk around three Russian defenders (see image).   CJ Bruton matched Bogut with 22 points, shooting 4-8 from three and 8-8 from the free-throw line.

Viktor Khryapa led the 2007 European champions with 22 points on 8-9 shooting and added 9 rebounds, but the Russians needed better performances from their two main players Andrei Kirilenko and J.R. Holden.  Holden scored 20 points, but missed 11 of 18 shots from the field.  The naturalized Russian player also had 6 turnovers and 6 assists.  The Eurobasket MVP Kirilenko had a rough game from the field, shooting 1-10 to the tune of only 6 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 turnovers.  Center Aleksey Savrasenko added 16 points for the Russians.

Russia will play Argentina in their final match, while Australia’s next game will be against Lithuania, the only undefeated team in Group A.

Links and Resources: Australia – Russia Boxscore (NBC Olympics), Goorjian tells Bogut bashers to back off (FIBA), Olympic Basketball Preview: Day Four (Interbasket)