The United States retained their basketball World Cup title after overcoming an early deficit to beat the tournament's surprise package Serbia 129-92 in a one-sided final on Sunday.
An athletic U.S. team, missing top NBA players such as LeBron James and Kevin Durant, finished the tournament in grand style after their captain James Harden inspired an effervescent performance in Madrid's City Arena.
With his team trailing 15-7 early on, Harden instigated a 15-0 run and the Americans never looked back as they romped to a 35-21 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Centre DeMarcus Cousins dominated the boards at both ends as the U.S. nailed 11 of 16 three-pointers in the first half to take a 67-41 lead into the locker room on the back of 18 points from playmaker Kyrie Irving.
Serbia, who reached the final with three upset wins in the knockout stages, fought hard to keep the score respectable in the second half but had no reply for either lethal long-range shooting or superior rebounding by the United States.
Irving led the champions with a game-high 26 points, Harden added 23 while six of their team mates finished with double scoring digits. Forwards Nemanja Bjelica and Nikola Kalinic stood out for Serbia with 18 points each.
France win bronze at World Cup
France came from behind in the final quarter to beat Lithuania 95-93 and win the bronze medal at the Basketball World Cup on Saturday. Lithuania led by seven points entering the fourth period, and centre Jonas Valanciunas scored five points to put Lithuania ahead 80-77 with three minutes to play. But Boris Diaw drove twice to score contested lay-ups as France went ahead and held on. The final minute became a parade of both teams exchanging free throw attempts, but France's shooters didn't waver. The final 16 seconds saw 11 fouls and 22 free-throw attempts as Lithuania wanted to stop the clock and recover possession, and France wanted to stop Lithuania from shooting from 3-point territory.-AP
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