JAPAN fell short of upsetting France in the Olympic men’s basketball tournament in Lille, France on Tuesday, but not without controversy.
In the dying seconds of the fourth quarter with Japan looked headed for an 84-80 win, France got an improbable four-point play when Matthew Strazel drained a three-point play with 10.2 seconds remaining after a foul was called on Yuki Kawamura.
France went on to win the match, 94-90, averting a disaster result to a team being backstopped by NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama.
In an interview with Basketnews.com, Japan coach Tom Hovasse said he believed a foul should not have been called on Kawamura.
"It didn't look like a foul, but his back was to me so I didn't see if there was contact," said Hovasse, who guided Japan’s women’s basketball team to a silver medal in Tokyo.
"It felt like our point guard tried to stay away from him. But it is what it is. The call is made, the free throw is made, and we went to overtime."
France’s win spoiled Kawamura’s huge outing where he scored 29 points and shot 6-of-15 from threes. He also had seven rebounds and six assists in the loss.
“I think no foul,” said Kawamura in a separate interview with Basketnews. “But Strazel is a good shooter. That was a tough shot and he made it.”
Japan fell to 0-2, and will go up against Brazil on August 2 in a must-win situation in their bid to advance to the quarterfinal.
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