RIGA (2011 FIBA U19 World Championship) - A complete four quarter 24 point performance from Dmitry Kulagin has earned himself and Team Russia bronze medals at the FIBA U19 World Championship.
 
Russia's quarterfinal victory over USA could be attributed to their outside display of shooting but it was failing early on for them against Argentina, hitting just one from six from outside the perimeter over the opening ten minutes. Despite this, Kulagin was still getting the job done inside, claiming eight first quarter points to see scores tied at 19.
 
There were no such problems at Argentina's end of the court with Pablo Perez coming off the bench to hit three from three from outside to see his team up by six points early in the second quarter. With nothing falling for Russia, Argentina looked comfortable conserving their lead. Kulagin would give the Russians a late consolation, hitting an off balance three pointer - his first of the night - as the halftime buzzer rang out, bringing the deficit back down to five.
 
With their lead cut back to four early in the second half, Emiliano Basabe kicked off a string of threes with Luciano Masserelli hitting the next two to see the lead go out to and 11 and force Russia to take an early timeout. The timeout would prove effective with Aleksandr Gudumak and Kulagin hitting 10 of the next 12 points to make it a three point ball game going into the final ten minutes.
 
Following Gleb Goldyrev's block on Giorgetti's three point attempt to get the ball rolling for the Argentineans in the final quarter, Sergey Karasev then stepped up at the other end of the court to hit his second three of the night and tie scores at 53.
 
Over the remaining nine minutes both teams would enjoy the lead twice and share it on one occasion but it was Russia who were leading when it counted, going into the final minute and a half up by five on the back of Kulagin's second three of the night. Argetina were able to remain close over the final 90 seconds, coming within a point on more than one occasion but Russia showed the tenacity needed to hold in, winning out by five points.

FIBA