Yi Jianlian (R) and Zhou Qi (L) of China play defence during a men's preliminary round match of basketball between China and Venezuela at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug. 10, 2016. Venezuela won 72-68. (Xinhua/Xu Zijian)
China fell short for their first win in Rio after losing 72-68 to Venezuela in the men's basketball tournament on Wednesday.
This is the third loss for China in the group stage.
Venezuela started the game with a 7-0 run and led by 25-10 in the first half before China slowly put themselves into the game.
A 8-0 run midway in the second half tied it 29-29 and the two teams battled in every corner to make it 35-35 before Venezuela led 38-35 at the end of the second quarter.
Zhou Qi, who was drafted by the Houston Rockets this summer, made a baseline jumper to close it on 51-50 to enter the fourth quarter when neither team had real advantage.
Zhou, who had 11 points, scored five straight points to close it by 64-63 with 1:21 to go, but Nestor Colmenares made a running shot for a 3-point lead with 15.8 seconds left on the clock.
"We played our best game in the tournament but we didn't have a win. The players gave all out but we didn't have the luck," Chinese head coach Gong Luming said.
Yi Jianlian led China with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Comenares had 16 for Venezuela.
Carmelo Anthony became the leading scorer of the U.S. men's basketball team in Olympics as he scored 31 points for a 98-88 win over Australia.
Anthony, who is competing his fourth Olympics, scored 293 points in total in Olympics to pass LeBron James (273).
The New York Knicks guard made four three-pointers in the fourth quarter to help the U.S. pull away as the two teams had a close three quarters on 70-67, in favor of the U.S..
Patty Mills scored 30 points for Australia, which led 54-49 at the break, and never lost their momentum until Anthony stepped in.
"Tonight was our first real international game. We beat a really really good team," said U.S. head coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Tony Parker made the game-winning jumper with 31 seconds to go to help France nail down Serbia 76-75 in a breath-taking Group A match.
France scored the last six points of the match as Nando de Colo made two free-throws and a layup to pull it close by 75-74 with 1:18 left.
After leading 75-70, Serbia missed five straight shots and let France steal twice down the stretch. Both teams record two wins and one loss so far in the pool.
De Colo scored 22 points to lead France, which almost squandered a 16-point lead as they opened the match with by a commanding 20-4.
Serbia woke up to come back on 30-27 with Bogdan Bogdanovic's 3-pointer midway into the second quarter, and another 17-6 run helped Serbia lead 60-57 to enter the decisive quarter.
