The ultimate stage has been set for the gold medal competition for men's basketball featuring Team USA against Spain, but first the bronze medal has to be played out. Russia and Argentina were both going to be up for a difficult match with solid professional teams featuring many veterans on both sides and the third place game was a hard fought match that found Russia ultimately coming out on top over Argentina 81-77.
The win for Russia is its first basketball medal ever and signal an ascension for the program. It's easily the biggest win for Russian basketball in international play along with the gold in the EuroBasket in 2007. Alexey Schved led Russia with 25 and Andrei Kirilenko scored 20 as well.
As for Argentina, it's a frustrating finish to fail to win a medal after hopes of competing against the Americans for the gold. Manu Ginobili scored 21 points in the losing effort.
For the latest on the 2012 Olympics, check out SB Nation's dedicated Olympics hub.