Sabonis steps up for bronze

Atlanta -- Arvydas Sabonis and Sarunas Marciulionis, Lithuania's 
National Basketball Association players and Olympic veterans, came 
through Saturday night and won their third medal and the country's 
second straight bronze with an 80-74 victory over Australia.

Sabonis, who plays for the Portland Trail Blazers, had 30 points, 13 
rebounds and five blocks. Marciulionis, who plays for the Denver 
Nuggets, had 16 points and nine assists in the game that wasn't decided 
until Sabonis' three-point play and Marciulionis' two free throws in the 
final 35 seconds.

The celebration after the game was subdued compared with four years ago, 
when Lithuania beat the Unified Team for the bronze in its first 
Olympics as an independent country. Sabonis and Marciulionis were key 
players for the Soviet Union team that won the gold medal in 1988.

Sabonis and Marciulionis began to dominate with 10 minutes left.

Sabonis fed Rimas Kurtinaitis, another three-Olympic veteran, with a 
behind-the-back bounce pass for a three-pointer that gave Lithuania 
(5-3) the lead for good with 9:38 left. Sabonis then scored all the 
points in Lithuania's 7-1 run that made it 67-59 with 6:37 left.

Six straight points had Australia (5-3) within 71-70 with 2:18 left. 
But Marciulionis and Sabonis kept Lithuania in control. 

Arturas Karnishovas, who played at Seton Hall, added 21 points for 
Lithuania, which was 9 for 18 from three-point range, while Kurtinaitis 
had nine.

Andrew Gaze, who also played at Seton Hall, led Australia with 25 
points on 5-for-9 three-point shooting.