Spain suffer second loss in men's basketball

Pau Gasol missed both his last free-throws when Spain lost 66-65 to Brazil at the Rio Olympics men's basketball tournament here on Tuesday.

This is Spain second loss in row after they lost 72-70 to Croatia on Sunday, which put the European champions into a tough situation in Group B.

If Spain beat Nigeria in the next match, they need to beat European runners-up Lithuania or South American runners-up Argentina to advance into the knock-out round, or both to avoid a potential quarterfinal encounter with the United States.

"We were in the same situation four years ago in London when we lost two games in a row. We will take the challenge," Spain's coach Sergio Scariolo said.

Spain lost to Russia 77-74 and to Brazil 88-82 in the group stage at the London Olympics, but finished with silver medals at last.

Gasol was fouled and stepped onto the line when Spain led 65-64 with 23 seconds to go, but he squandered the chance of a comfortable lead. Brazil's Marcus Marqunhos tipped in a missed jump shot from Marcelinho Huertas on the next possession.

With only five seconds left on the clock, Sergio Llull missed a jumper inside the paint. Rudy Fernandez grabbed the offensive rebound but did not have time to shoot.

"(For the free-throws) sometimes you make them, sometime you don't. It's just a bad day for Pau. It's a bad day for all of us," Fernandez said.

Spain trailed for most of the first half after a 4-0 start, before regaining the lead by 31-27. Brazil used a 9-0 run banking two quarters to get the upper hand again, and another 11-0 run to lead 56-45 in the fourth quarter.

Llull led Spain to claw back as his 3-pointer and a free-throw put them ahead by 65-63 with 1:03 minutes left. Nene Hilario made one of his free-throws to make it a one-point game before Marqunhos' winning basket.

Jonas Maciulis scored 14 points in the third quarter to lead Lithuania to an 89-80 victory over Nigeria in a close match no one expected.

Nigeria started strong by leading 16-13 in the first quarter, 41-36 in the second and 49-47 midway in the 3rd when the African champions were on the way to producing the biggest upset of the tournament so far.

Maciulis, who had 21 points, led Lithuania to a 12-0 run to pull away by 59-49. Nigeria, led by Ikechukwu Diogu's 19 points and Michael Umeh's 17, chased back as close as 84-79 with less than minute to go of the match, but never made further step up.

In Tuesday's last match, Argentina beat Croatia 90-82 for the second win in a row. Endit