RIO DE JANEIRO (Rio 2016 Olympic Games) - Argentina survived a fourth quarter comeback by Croatia to just about hold them off for a 90-82 win at Carioca Arena 1 on Tuesday night.

Argentina led by as many as 20 points late in the third quarter but Croatia rallied to get within 85-81 with just over a minute left to play, before Sergio Hernandez's men secured the victory from the free-throw line to improve to 2-0 in Group B. The loss dropped Croatia to 1-1

The score was tied at 22 to end the first quarter and it was the Argentinians who pulled away thanks to consecutive three-pointers from Nicolas Laprovittola that put them up 39-31 with 4:41 left in the second quarter and they went into the locker room with a 46-40 lead.

Facundo Campazzo spearheaded a 15-3 spurt to open the third quarter - included a run of 9 unanswered points - which gave them a commanding 61-43 advantage. The lead reached 20 when Campazzo fed Roberto Acuna for an easy basket with 2:53 left in the period.

Down 71-54 to start the fourth quarter, Croatia were able to call upon stars Bojan Bogdanovic and Dario Saric while also getting key contributions off the bench from Mario Hezonja and Luka Babic as they cut away at the deficit. However, they couldn't get any closer than four and just missed out on an incredible come from behind win. 

Turning Point: With Croatia down 85-81, Krunoslav Simon missed a three-pointer and Luis Scola was fouled by Hezonja as he grabbed the rebound. Croatia head coach Aleksandar Petrovic and Babic argued the call and both were assessed technical fouls. Petrovic, who had earlier picked up a first technical, was ejected. Scola hit 2-of-3 free-throws while Ginobili made good on the foul shot for Babic's transgression, putting Argentina up 88-81 and that about did it.

Stats Don't Lie: Croatia were just 13-of-21 (62 percent) and 9-of-31 (29 percent) from three-point range.

Hero: While he uncharacteristically missed 5 of 9 free-throw attempts, Scola was otherwise superb, finishing with a game-high 23 points and leading all players with 9 rebounds. 

Bottom Line: Croatia will feel they missed out on a great opportunity. They will look to bounce back against Brazil on Thursday. Argentina will take on Lithuania in a battle of two undefeated teams.

FIBA