OLYM - Russia edge out Spain, Australia and Brazil advance

LONDON (Olympics) - Russia handed two-time European champions Spain their first loss of the Olympic Basketball Tournament for Men on Saturday, while Australia and Brazil ousted hosts Great Britain and China respectively to book their places in the Quarter-Finals.

The Russians overcame an 18-point deficit to edge out Spain 77-74 behind inspiring performances by Vitaliy Fridzon, Victor Khryapa and Anton Ponkrashov in a thrilling encounter.

Fridzon, two days after hitting a tough three-pointer to help Russia defeat Brazil, spearheaded his team's comeback from a 28-11 first quarter deficit against the Spaniards by finding the range in the second period to cut the deficit to 50-42. He finished with a game-high 24 points.

Khryapa hit three three-pointers in the third quarter alone to get his team within 47-45. His fourth and final trey came with 1:01 left to play and tied the game, handing Russia the momentum.

Ponkrashov had 11 assists, the last one led to a dunk by Timofey Mozgov which gave David Blatt's team the lead for good with 18 seconds.

Pau Gasol was fouled in the dying seconds and could have tied the game, but he missed the first of two free-throws. After he hit the second, Spain fouled Fridzon who sealed the deal from the foul line.

"We were doing pretty badly in the first quarter, down by 17 or 18. But we fought until the end and we pulled it off. This is a huge confidence boost," said Russia's shooting guard.

Spain coach Sergio Scariolo paid tribute to Russia's heroes on the day.

"The play of Fridzon, Ponkrashov and Khryapa killed us. The three of them were effective," he summed up.

Australia erased a 15-point deficit with a near-perfect second half to cruise past GB 106-75 and move on to the next round.

Patrick Mills exploded for 39 points, surpassing Carmelo Anthony's 37 in USA's win over Nigeria for most by a player in the tournament.

Hosts GB, still in search of their first win after agonising defeats against Brazil and Spain, were in control in the first half. With Joel Freeland providing scoring inside and Dan Clark hitting from the outside, they led 46-36 at the break.

They had their biggest lead, 51-36, early in the third period, but things unravelled from there.

Mills led a furious comeback by the Boomers as they tied the score at 53 when he converted a three-point play. Matt Dellevadova then connected from long range to give the visitors their first lead at 56-55 and they never looked back.

Down 66-60 to start the final frame, Great Britain had no answers for Australia who were hitting shots from all over the court and outscored their opponents 70-29 over the last two quarters.

"This is what you live for, to play in a game like this in the Olympics. It's the best feeling," said Mills.

"We were down in the first half but we stuck with it. You're never going to beat someone in the first quarter or the first half."

In the day's other game, Brazil bounced back from Thursday's heartbreaking defeat to Russia and trounced China 98-59.

The result saw them improve to 3-1 on the tournament and, like Australia, enabled them to punch their ticket for the Last Eight.

The Brazilians jumped to a 25-9 lead by the end of the first quarter and never looked back.

"The most important thing for us was to get a win. By winning today we could move in the top 3 of our group," said point guard Marcelinho Huertas, who had eight points and four assists.

"Fortunately we started really strong, especially on defense. They (China) only scored 21 points in the first half."

FIBA