By Daily Sports on August 8, 2016
Perennial medal contenders Argentina eased past Nigeria 94-66 in each team's Rio Olympic debut as Facundo Campazza scored 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three-point territory.
Manu Ginobili of the NBA's San Antonio Spurs added 12 points and the Brooklyn Nets' Luis Scola 18 as the more experienced Argentines proved too much for the sloppy African qualifiers.
Argentina is the only country since 1988 to have won an Olympic basketball gold medal other than the USA.
They won in Athens in 2004 on the strength of their "golden generation" of core players including Ginobili, Scola and Andres Nocioni.
But with Ginobili now 39 and the other two 36 years old, time is running out for that decorated cadre to take home another medal.
Cheered on by a boisterous turnout of fans from their nearby homeland, which borders on Brazil, Argentina jumped out to an 11-0 lead.
They never looked back, using tough defence and superior ball movement to set up eight first-half three-pointers and take a 50-31 halftime lead.
More of the same followed in the second half, with the Argentines cruising to the final buzzer. They finished with 15 three-pointers.
Nigeria was led by Ikechukwu Diogu's 15 points and 13 rebounds, and 14 points from Ebi Ere.
•Sourced from AFP
Source Daily Sports
Posted August 8, 2016
You may also like...
AFCON victory to unite Cameroon
Train crushes Team Nigeria boxer in Lagos
Lacazette fears Arsenal players will leave when Wenger...
Timothy, Weah's son snubs Chelsea & Milan
Why elite athletes use supplements — Report
Neymar drops huge Man Utd hint

Olayinka ready for Saudi journey
Why NSC picked Lagos to host intermediate games – DG
EFCC, ICPC summon NFF officials over N12bn FG fund
D’Tigress intensify World Cup prep in Spain
Onuachu, Ndidi, Yohanna lead 12 Nigerians into Europa, Conference League playoffs
Lagos revives monthly cadet table tennis tourney
Fizdale names D’Tigers roster for World Cup qualifiers
Hearn threatens to sue White over Joshua, Fury fight
UK ex-Commonwealth champion Baptiste found jailed in Morocco
Why elite athletes use supplements — Report
No Kangaroo Committee Can Save Gusau, his NFF Jesters - Give Us Emenalo
Rangers International going, going . . . (64,039 views)
Amaju Pinnick: A cat with nine lives (55,398 views)
Second Term: Amaju Pinnick, Other NFF Heavyweights Home to Roost •How Pinnick Broke the Jinx (53,286 views)
Current issues in Nigerian sports: Matters arising (52,891 views)
Sports Development: Zenith Bank on the zenith (52,767 views)
Missing $150,000 IAAF Grant: Solomon Dalung’s Hide and Seek game (52,642 views)
Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje’s solid footprints, commitment to sports development in Kano State (52,538 views)
NFF Presidency: Pinnick, Maigari, Ogunjobi, Okoye in Battle for Supremacy (52,052 views)
Olopade, BET9A wave of revolution in NNL (51,255 views)
Commonwealth Games 2018: Shame of Muhammadu Buhari, Solomon Dalung (49,727 views)
Ibrahimovic’s Man U exit: Whose decision is it? And in whose interest? (48,213 views)
John Mikel Obi: Segun Odegbami’s Outrageous Call! (47,595 views)