Rio 2016 Olympics – Day 3 Recap

By Bradley Gains on August 9, 2016

Image Credit: FIBA

The third day at the Rio Olympics saw Australia and USA go 2-0 in the tournament, while France earned their first success.

Here’s a brief recap on what went down on Day 3:

Serbia v Australia

It was a second straight win over European opposition for Australia as they once again pulled away in the second half for a double-digit 85-70 victory. Matthew Dellavedova impressed after going 7-of-8 from the field in his 23 points and also dishing out 13 assists in the win, while Patty Mills top scored with 26. After being edged out in a high-scoring opening period, Serbia responded in the second to gain a 43-40 advantage at half-time. Their lead was cut to one by the end of the third before the Aussies put up 33 points in the fourth, scoring the final 11 to make sure of the win. Maroslav Raduljica had 25 points in vain for Serbia as they now drop to 1-1 in Group A.

Box score.

USA v Venezuela

Another convincing winning margin for USA, but they didn’t have it all their own way in the early stages before powering to a 113-69 triumph. Venezuela put up a fight in the opening period and sat down level at 18-18 after the first 10 minutes. However, USA would win the second quarter 30-8 and never look back as they racked up 65 points in the second half. Paul George top scored with 20 points as one of five players in double figures. 35-year-old American born John Cox scored 19 in reply for Venezuela with a further 18 from Gregory Echenique.

Box score.

France v China

The final game saw two beaten teams from Day 1 do battle and France came out on top with an 88-60 victory to get their tournament up and running. Tony Parker handed out eight assists to go with 14 points, while Nando De Colo scored 19 points with France doing most of their damage in the first half. They held China to just nine points in the second quarter to establish a commanding 19-point lead at the break and wrapped up a comfortable win in the final period. Yi Jianlian led his side with 19 points as they go 0-2.

Box score.

Women’s results:
Japan 82-66 Brazil (Group A)
Spain 63-103 USA, Canada 71-67 Serbia, Senegal 64-101 China (Group B)

The schedule for Day 4 is as follows as Group B gets underway:

Day 4: Tuesday 9th August
4.15pm—11.30pm – Women’s preliminary rounds: Australia v France (4.15pm); Brazil v Belarus (7.30pm); Turkey v Japan (9.45pm)

6.15pm—4.15am – Men’s preliminary rounds: Spain v Brazil (6.15pm); Lithuania v Nigeria (11.00pm); Argentina v Croatia (2.30am)

See the full schedule here.

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