US cagers survive late scare to win gold

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Sydney: The US men's basketball team clinched their third consecutive Olympic gold medal on Sunday, but only after a tougher-than-expected 85-75 victory over France who with four minutes left trailed by only four points.

The Americans, who now have taken 12 of 14 Olympic titles, were heavily favoured to retain the title given their abundance of talent spread out among 12 of the NBA's top players.

But France, just as Lithuania did in the semi-finals, had other ideas and forced the game down to the wire.

''I told you we were going to do it,'' said Toronto Raptor forward Vince Carter as the team, many of whom wore gold shoes for the game, celebrated victory.

The win leaves the US with a 109-2 record in Olympic play, but with four of their closest games since 1992, the team has been roundly criticised for lacking the passion and talent of its predecessors.

The Americans were coming off a narrow two-point semi-final victory over Lithuania -- who took bronze with an 89-71 win over Australia -- and hoped to silence their critics by taking the play straight to the French.

France scored the opening basket but trailed the rest of the way as the US built up a 14-point halftime lead.

''My team only understood at halftime that this really is an Olympics final. For us the game began at halftime,'' said French coach Jean Pierre Di Vincenzi, who as expected retired following the match.



(c) Reuters Limited.