Aug. 3, 2012

LONDON - In a Group B men's basketball game on Thursday evening in London host Great Britain made a valiant rally in the fourth quarter but came up just short against Spain in a 79-78 loss. Great Britain trailed by 12 points with 6:33 to play before mounting a comeback bid.

Villanova alum Andrew Sullivan started his third straight game for Great Britain and played 23 minutes, the most action he has seen thus far in the Olympics. Sullivan finished with 3 points, one rebound and one assist while making 1-of-3 from the floor, 0-of-1 from three-point range and 1-of-3 at the foul line.

Great Britain trailed 64-52 after Jose Manual Calderon hit a three-pointer for Spain with 6:33 to play. Calderon wound up scoring 11 of his 19 points in those last 6:33 of the contest but Great Britain trimmed the deficit to 66-60 with 4:46 remaining thanks to eight straight points from Luol Deng.

Marc Gasol made one of two free throws for Spain with 2:26 left to make the score 71-65 but consecutive baskets by Joel Freeland pulled Great Britain to with 71-69 with 1:31 to play. Calderon, however, made a layup with 47 seconds to go and hit 6-of-6 free throws in the last 37 seconds to thwart the Great Britain rally.

Next up for Great Britain is a Saturday night matchup against Australia at 8 p.m. London time (3 p.m. Eastern).

Next up for Villanova is a women's basketball game on Friday morning at 9 a.m. local time (4 a.m. Eastern) when Lisa Karcic and Croatia look for their first win in group play against Angola.

YESTERDAY'S ACTION: Wednesday, August 1

Women's Basketball: Czech Republic 89, CROATIA 70

TODAY'S ACTION: Thursday, August 2

Men's Basketball: Spain 79, GREAT BRITAIN 78

TOMORROW'S SCHEDULE: Friday, August 3

Women's Basketball: CROATIA vs. Angola (4 a.m. Eastern)