U.S. men cap perfect 1st round in basketball

Greece, Australia and Croatia also win on Day 10

Last Updated: Monday, August 18, 2008 | 1:58 PM ET

CBC Sports

Dwyane Wade, of the U.S., fights for the ball during a men's preliminary round basketball match against Germany at the Beijing Games on Monday. (Antonio Scorza/AFP/Getty Images)

The U.S. men's basketball team put the finishing touches on a perfect preliminary round with a 106-57 drubbing of Germany at the Beijing Games on Monday.

The Americans (5-0) led wire to wire, bursting out to a 14-3 lead en route to outscoring the Germans 31-12 after 10 minutes, and the lead just kept building from that point.

Centre Dwight Howard led the way for the Americans with game highs in points (22) and rebounds (10). Forward Lebron James was once again a force for the U.S., pouring in 16 points in the first half on his way to 18 in total.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 14 points and added eight rebounds for Germany (1-4), which will not move on to the quarter-finals.

In the medal round, the Americans will face Australia — a team that provided the U.S. with a stiff challenge in an exhibition game prior to qualifying two weeks ago.

The U.S. pulled away in the final minutes of the fourth to earn an 87-76 exhibition win over Australia two weeks ago, easily the smallest margin of victory for this edition of the American team.

Even more encouraging for the Aussies is the return of centre Andrew Bogut, who sat out of the exhibition contest in Shanghai due to a sore ankle.

The big man from the Milwaukee Bucks will undoubtedly provide Australia with a big boost, but the Americans have looked nothing short of dominant since the Olympic tournament started and should be even more focused when the knockout portion of the tournament begins on Wednesday.

Argentina 91, Russia 79

Luis Scola poured in 37 points and fellow forward Andres Nocioni added 19 for Argentina (4-1), who will entered the knockout stage on a winning note with a big win over the reigning European champions from Russia (1-4).

Former Toronto Raptor Carlos Delfino hit a three-pointer at the end of the first to give the reigning Olympic champions from Argentina a double-digit lead.

Russia used a 10-2 run late in the second quarter to pull within a basket, before Argentina hit back-to-back shots to finish the half with a 45-39 lead.

A pair of fourth-quarter free throws from Russia's Andrei Kirilenko, who led his squad with 23 points, pulled his team to within a point at 73-72.

But the Argentines responded with a 12-3 run to push the lead back to 10.

Argentina will move on to face Greece in the quarter-finals.

Greece 91, China 77

A miserable first half doomed China’s hopes of ending the Olympic men’s basketball preliminary round with a win.

Host China (3-2) lost after scoring only 24 points in the first half and missing every three-pointer it attempted in the set.

China launched a comeback in the third quarter, outscoring the Greeks 30-23, but they were too far ahead on the scoreboard.

Yao Ming led the Chinese with 16 points and Wang Zhizhi added 14.

Ioannis Bourousis and Vasileios Spanoulis led the Greeks (3-2) with 19 points apiece, followed by Antonios Fotsis with 17.

China will face Lithuania in its quarter-final matchup on Wednesday.

Australia 106, Lithuania 75

Lithuana finished men’s preliminary basketball play with its first loss of the tournament.

Aussie Andrew Bogut was the high scorer, netting 23 points. Teammate Brad Newley added 16, while Chris Anstey and Patrick Mills each added 13.

Ksistof Lavrinovic led the Lithuanians with 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Rimantas Kaukenas and Linas Kleiza added 12 apiece.

Australia came out strong, leading 28-14 at the end of one quarter while Lithuania’s defence struggled.

At the half, Lithuania was down 55-29. It came back in the third to score 22 points to Australia’s 20, but couldn’t catch the Aussies.

Australia responded in the fourth, outscoring Lithuania 31-24 to seal the win. The Aussies are now at 3-2.

Croatia 91, Iran 57

Iran continued its Olympic winless streak.

Mohammadsad Nikkhah was the high scorer with 25 points and five rebounds. Teammate Hamed Ehadadi scored a double-double with 17 points and 15 rebounds.

Marin Rozic and Marko Tomas led the Croatians (3-2) with 16 points, with Nikola Prkacin adding 15.

Iran (0-5) had a good start, leading 6-2 after five minutes, but the squad quickly collapsed offensively.

Iran was down 19-8 after one quarter, and only scored eight points in the second to Croatia’s 35.

Iran looked more energetic in the third, scoring 23 points to Croatia’s 16, but was too far behind.

Croatia advances to face Spain in the medal round.

Spain 98, Angola 50

Spain pulled itself out of a first-quarter hole for the win.

The Spainards trailed Angola 23-15 after 10 minutes, but came back to lead 40-30 at the end of the second quarter.

Pau Gasol led Spain with 31 points and nine rebounds, while teammate Juan Carlos Navarro netted 12 points.

Eduardo Mingas was the high scorer for Angola with 10 points. Carlos Morais and Vladimir Jeronimo added eight points each.

Spain is 4-1 and Angola is at 0-5.