ESP/ARG – Spain do the double over Argentina

OURENSE (Olympics) - Spain continued to build momentum for the Olympics by thrashing Argentina 87-62 in the last game of the Torneo de Ourense.

Juan Carlos Navarro had a game-high 16 points while Jose Manuel Calderon added 15.

Spain had four players finish in double figures, including 17-year-old Ricky Rubio who had 11.

Raul Lopez, however, left the game early with a right thigh injury. Team doctors said the point guard did not suffer a tear but that he would be under close observation.

The Spanish beat Argentina in a friendly in Madrid before travelling to Ourense.

"In Madrid we were brilliant against Argentina at the start while they hit back at the end of the game and in Ourense, we have been the ones to be stronger at the end,” Spain coach Aito Garcia Reneses said.

As for DKV Joventut sensation Rubio, Garcia Reneses was said: "I hope that Ricky continues at the same level in the Olympic Games."

Everyone expects the Argentinians, who won the gold medal in Athens four years ago but lost to Spain in the semi-finals of the 2006 FIBA World Championship, to be strong contenders at the Beijing Games.

They are clearly not at their best this summer, though.

In the game in Ourense, four different Argentina players were slapped with technical fouls, including Chicago Bulls star Andres Nocioni.

"It seems that the Spanish air doesn't agree with us,” Nocioni fumed.

“We had the same situation two years ago in Madrid. We weren't able to put up with the circus that they had, with the officials, the fans and the fiesta."

Nocioni also joked that the Argentinians were like the `bad guys’ in some old American westerns.

“The Spanish fans are going to think we’re Indians because we also give a bad image to them,” he said.

Rudy Fernandez also drew an unsportsmanlike foul in the heated contest that was played before 5,300 fans.

"We must focus on our game and not depend on our rival,” said Spain coach Aito Garcia Reneses.

“I (also) do not want to have any technical fouls called against us, nor any arguments.

"Argentina is a team that can unbalance you and they are able to take away the control of our game.

“We cannot enter in their style, nor lose the control of the game."

FIBA