Late three lifts Russia past Brazil in men's basketball

London, England – Vitaliy Fridzon drilled a three-pointer in the closing seconds to lift Russia to a 75-74 win over Brazil in men's basketball.

The Russians blew an 11-point lead in the third quarter and trailed 72-67 with less than two minutes remaining, but Alexey Shved scored five straight points to tie it with 26 seconds to play.

Marcelinho Huertas then put Brazil back on top with a layup with six seconds left, but Shved got the ball to Fridzon, who buried a shot from the left corner to put Russia ahead and Leandro Barbosa missed a desperation shot as time expired.

Shved had 17 points and six assists for the Russians, who had won their first two games over Great Britain and China by a combined 39 points. Andrei Kirilenko, headed back to the NBA with Shved for the Minnesota Timberwolves, led Russia with 19 points and Timofey Mozgov added 18.

Barbosa, a former NBA Sixth Man of the Year, scored 16 to lead Brazil, which had won its first two games by a total of nine points against Australia and Britain. Huertas finished with eight in defeat.

Brazil opened a 20-15 lead after the first quarter, but Russia used a 12-1 run in the second to grab a 30-23 edge and carried a 40-32 advantage to the break. The Russians led by as many as 11, 59-48, late in the third, but the Brazilians scored the last five of the period to make it a six-point margin heading to the fourth.