U.S. back on top in basketball

BEIJING, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Kobe Bryant took over in the fourth quarter Sunday and carried the United States to a tense 118-107 win over Spain for the gold medal of Olympic basketball.

The Americans defeated Spain by 37 points when they met in the preliminary round of the tournament, but there was no such blowout Sunday. The defending world champion Spanish club battled the U.S. squad on even terms through most of the contest and trailed by only two points with eight minutes to play.

Bryant scored 13 points the rest of the way, including his second three-pointer of the final period that put the United States in front by eight with 3:10 remaining.

Both Bryant and teammate LeBron James got into early foul trouble, resulting in Dwyane Wade coming off the bench to keep the United States' offense rolling. Wade scored 27 points to lead the Americans in scoring and Bryant had 20.

The victory put the United States back on top of the basketball world after having lost three times in the 2004 Olympics while settling for the bronze medal.

"We knew they would be a tough team," Bryant said. "They aren't the world champions for nothing. They had us on our heels for a while. In the fourth quarter, I just let it loose."

Rudy Fernandez led Spain with 22 points and Pau Gasol had 21.

In the bronze medal game, defending Olympic champion Argentina defeated Lithuania 87-75.