LONDON -- The Russians celebrated wildly. The Argentines went wild.
The bronze-medal game ended with an ugly confrontation.
Alexei Shved scored 25 points -- 13 in the fourth quarter -- and Russia won its first Olympic medal in men's basketball with an 81-77 win on Sunday over Argentina, whose players angrily questioned the referees after the final horn following a wild scramble in the closing seconds.
Andrei Kirilenko added 20 points, Vitaliy Fridzon 19 for Russia, which finished ninth at the Beijing Games four years ago.
"Feels like gold for us," Kirilenko said.
Manu Ginobili scored 21 and Andres Nocioni 16 for Argentina, which was looking to add another bronze to its Olympic collection after winning one in China and gold eight years ago in Athens. But this tournament ended with Argentina's players without a medal and looking for an explanation.
"This is one of the most painful defeats of my life," Ginobili said.
Fridzon's layup with 5.2 seconds left sealed it for Russia, which came away with the ball after it changed hands several times near midcourt.
When the game ended, several Argentine players surrounded referees Bill Kennedy, Jose Carrion and Juan Arteaga in protest and guard Pablo Prigioni kicked an electronic clock off the scorer's table in disgust. A water bottle was thrown on the court that appeared to come from the stands.
Argentina had taken the lead after rallying from an 11-point deficit in the second half.
Ginobili's layup gave Argentina a 77-76 lead with 43 seconds left, but then Shved countered with a 3-pointer to put Russia back in front.
Nocioni missed a jumper from the corner, but it appeared Argentina might get another chance when Prigioni came up with the ball close to the sideline at halfcourt. But it was tipped away with bodies flying all over the floor and wound up bouncing to Shved, who alertly passed it up the floor for Fridzon, who drove in for his uncontested layup.
As the final seconds ticked off, Russia's players piled on each other near one foul line while Argentina's swarmed Kennedy and the other officials, screaming and demanding answers.
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Originally Posted by Eman5805
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