Argentina nearly stops the USA

[Snoopy the Celtics Beagle <snoopy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The following is from ESPN.com:

O'Neal, U.S. pull away in final minutes
Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Argentina couldn't pull off the same type of
shocker it did a year ago.

With an improved United States team showing greater degrees of poise and
talent down the stretch, the Americans avenged a groundbreaking defeat of a
year ago by defeating Argentina 94-86 Tuesday in the second round of the
Tournament of the Americas.

Fittingly for the U.S. team, the star of the game was Jermaine O'Neal --
one of only two U.S. players held over from last summer's team that
finished a disappointing sixth at the World Championships.

O'Neal scored 22 points and made one of the biggest plays of the game at
the defensive end, blocking a shot by Fabricio Oberto with 1:13 left -- a
play that led to a fast-break dunk by Vince Carter off a pass from Allen
Iverson for an 89-83 lead. It was the only missed shot for Oberto, who
finished 8-for-9.

Andres Nocioni then missed a 3-pointer, and Iverson went to the line with
1:07 left and made one of two. Another missed 3 by Nocioni from the same
spot was followed by two made free throws by Tim Duncan to make it 92-83,
and Argentina got no closer than six the rest of the way.

The United States remained undefeated in this Olympic qualifying tournament
and improved to 22-0 in qualifiers. The Americans are 64-3 when using
professional players in international tournaments, all three of the losses
coming last summer.

With a contingent of Argentinian fans singing "Don't forget what happened
last time,'' the teams played an intense four quarters. The game was tied
74-74 with 6= minutes left before the U.S. team closed the game by scoring
20 of the final 32 points.

Tim Duncan scored 19 points, playing most of the fourth quarter with four
fouls, Iverson had 13, and Carter and Mike Bibby scored 11 apiece. O'Neal
had a team-high 10 rebounds.

Oberto had 17 points, and Manu Ginobili and Andres Nocioni added 16 each
for Argentina.

Duncan picked up his fourth foul with 8:54 left and went to the bench for
the next two minutes, nearly picking up his fifth shortly after he
returned. But no call was made after Duncan defended a shot by Luis Scola,
and he raced downcourt and fed O'Neal for an alley-oop dunk and a 78-74 lead.

It was 81-77 when Iverson stole the ball and raced in uncontested. But he
missed a layup, which Ginobili then reciprocated at the other end by
missing a reverse.

A 3-pointer by Iverson late in the shot clock gave the Americans an 85-79
lead, and a missed 3 by Ginobili was followed by two foul shots from O'Neal
with 3:11 left.

There were 12 lead changes in the first quarter, which ended with the
Americans ahead 27-23. The U.S. team had a 7-0 run to open the second
quarter, holding Argentina scoreless for the first 4= minutes to take a
34-23 lead.

Nocioni, playing with three fouls, hit a 3-pointer to begin a 7-2 run, and
Lucas Victoriano and Ruben Wolkowyski hit 3s in an 8-0 run that pulled
Argentina to 41-40 with 26 seconds left before halftime.

O'Neal had a three-point play to give the Americans a 44-40 halftime lead.
O'Neal had 13 points at the break, while Argentina was 7-for-11 from
3-point range.

Ginobili drove into traffic and hit a layup with 5:34 left in the third
quarter to give Argentina a 53-52 lead -- its first lead since 21-19 late
in the first quarter.

Duncan had a tip-in and a dunk before assisting on a 3-pointer by Allen to
give the U.S. team a 62-58 lead, and Allen banked in a 14-footer at the
buzzer following an Argentina turnover to give the Americans a 70-65 lead
entering the fourth quarter.

Snoopy the Celtics Beagle
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