LILLE, France, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Sergio Llull's 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left cut the deficit to only one point, but his last attempt failed as Spain lost 88-85 to Canada on Friday and were eliminated from the men's basketball competition of the Paris 2024.
It was a do-or-die match for the former world champions as they would have finished first in Group A if they beat group leaders Canada, and ranked bottom if they lose.
Trailing 64-56 to start the decisive fourth quarter, Spain came all the way up to 82-80 with 53 seconds to go. Rj Barrett's 3-pointer gave Canada an 85-80 advantage before Llull capitalized a crucial offensive rebound from Jaime Pradilla with his third 3-pointer to make it 86-85 with 3.1 seconds to go.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 20 points, buried both free-throws in the following possession of Canada and Llull's beat-the-buzzer backcourt shot fell short.
Canada's Andrew Numbhard and Barrett had 18 and 16 points respectively while Dario Brizuela led Spain with 17 points.
Canada advanced into the quarterfinals with three wins, while Australia, Greece and Spain all finished with one win and two losses. Australia were ranked second with better point difference though they lost to Greece 77-71 in an earlier match on Friday, while Greece have to wait for the other two groups results for a chance to remain in the tournament.
The 12 teams were divided into three groups, with top teams of each group qualifying for the quarterfinals directly, along with the two best third-placed teams.
In Group B, Germany defeated France 85-71 to wrap up the group stage as No. 1 while France finished second. Both teams have advanced into the knock-out round, while Brazil, which finished third after beating Japan 102-84, also booked a berth in the final phase with a better point difference than Greece.
Last-round match-ups in Group C will be staged on Saturday to decide the top eight teams in the men's competition. ■
