Czechs beat Brazilians in basketball final to take home gold

The Czech Republic defeated Brazil 69-67 to claim the men's basketball gold in a nerve-wracking and spectacular final at the Chengdu FISU World University Games on Sunday in front of a packed crowd at the Fenghuangshan Sports Park Gymnasium.

It was a breakthrough for both Brazil, who won basketball bronze at the 2017 World University Games, and the Czech Republic to make it to the gold medal showdown. Patrick Samoura, captain of the Czech team, said earlier that nobody expected them to be in the final.

Six of the game's 15 lead changes took place in the tight fourth quarter. The game was knotted up at 67-67 with only 44 seconds left on the clock until free throws from Nikolaos Noumeros and Jan Zidek helped push the Czech team ahead for good.

The back-and-forth game was highlighted by runs from both sides, with each going on 9-0 surges in the second quarter to end the first half tied at 37 apiece.

Czech player Zidek scored 11 points of his game-high 24 in the first quarter.

Three Brazilians scored in double-digits, with captain Caio de Souza Pacheco notching 14 points and Paulo Barbosa Junior scoring 17. Victor Camilo da Silva lodged a double-double with 10 rebounds and 12 points.

The atmosphere in the 18,000-seat stadium reached fever pitch after a spectacular assist from Pacheco to a teammate for a reverse slam halfway through the fourth quarter. Despite his team's valiant efforts, he was very disappointed after losing the game.

"We have the medals on our chest. But we don't want the silvers, we want the golds," Pacheco said.

He added that his experience in Chengdu has been incredible. "I am proud of what our group has achieved and hungry for more."

Lubos Kovar from the Czech Republic said basketball is a team sport, and his teammates stepped up to achieve a great feat.

"I love it. Everybody likes to be in first place, so I think it's very nice. It's a very great feeling," Kovar said after the game. "I want to say thank you to the crowd. They have been cheering and encouraging us all the time, and we are very grateful to them."

The defending champion United States settled for bronze after beating Argentina 102-91 in an earlier game at Fenghuangshan on Sunday.

It was a closely contested match, with the teams exchanging leads 16 times and tying nine times. The US led 59-58 entering the second half.

The US extended its lead to nine points at 79-70 in the third quarter and carried that momentum to close out the game.