Day 13 of FIBA Recap 2010

United States 81 - Turkey 64

        The Americans brought their "B-squad" to Istanbul, Turkey and came out on top. They won their first world championship since 1994 on Sunday, beating the hometown Turkish team 81-64. Kevin Durant led the way with another exceptional performance, taking home the tournament's most outstanding player award. In the process of scoring his 28 points, he set a record for most points in the tournament by a United States' player. In the quarterfinals, semis and Sunday's finals, Durant combined for 98 points, including a program-record 38 against Lithuania.

        Durant was near unstoppable early, going off for 20 points in the first half and kicking off the third period with two consecutive 3s to help extend the Americans' ten-point lead. Lamar Odom used his length and quickness to attack the offensive glass, beating the sluggish Turkish frontline en route to a double-double- 11 rebounds and 15 points.


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Lithuania 99 - Serbia 88

        Linas Kleiza sparked a second-quarter run to give Lithuania a ten-point halftime lead and the team never looked back from there. Kleiza scored 12 points of his game-high 33 points during the run, a vast improvement from his 1-for-11 performance in the semifinal loss against the United States. On Sunday, Kleiza made 12-of-18 field-goal attempts, including five 3s. Simas Jasaitis collected 10 rebounds and 14 points for a Lithuania program that secured its first-ever medal Sunday.


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Argentina 86 - Spain 81

        In the fifth place game, two of the pre-tournament favorites met in one of the more dramatic games of the two-weeks. Argentina nearly blew a 25-point lead, but Luis Scola put the team on his back and broke the tie with under two minutes remaining. He finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds and Carlos Delfino chipped in 27 for a team that seemed destined to cruise to victory before former-champion Spain, rallied in the third quarter. Spain's comeback was led by Rudy Fernandez's 31 points and Marc Gasol's 16 points and 10 boards. Gasol made two free-throws down the stretch to tie the score at 80 before Scola put Team Argentina back on top for good.


By Chris Andrews