An under-strengeth Romania suffered a shock defeat to minnows Lithuania. Marius Stankevicius opened the scoring for the visitors with a powerful 25-yard shot in the 31st minute. Saulius Mikoliunas added a second midway through the second half, before Mindaugas Kalonas scored the third after a swift counter-attack four minutes from time.

The Americans will take on Spain in Sunday’s gold medal showdown, a team they blew out in the group stages of the Beijing Games. Spain defeated Lithuania 91-86 in the other semi-final.

Ventiquattro anni dopo i Giochi di Los Angeles la Spagna torna in una finale olimpica. Batte la Lituania 91-86 (40-42) in una gara tirata per 40’ ma bella solo nell’ultimo quarto, quando Rudy Fernandez firma l’8-0 spagnolo che decide la gara (81-74), sull’abbrivio positivo dato da Felipe Reyes.