BEIJING -- Iran failed in its final preliminary match after being defeated by Croatia 91-57 in the Olympic Men's Basketball tournament on Monday.

Iran's Mohammadsamad Nikkhah was the game's highest scorer, scoring 25 points and collecting five rebounds. His teammate Hamed Hadadi scored a double-double, with 17 points and 15 rebounds.
Croatia had four players who finished with over 10 points, including Marin Rozic and Marko Tomas with 16 points apiece, Nikola Prkacin with 15 points and Damjan Rudez with 13 points.
Iran played well in the first five minutes, leading 6-2. But it soon lost its rhythm and its offensive play collapsed, with the first quarter ending 19-8. Iran's scoring curse lingered in the second quarter when it scored only eight points while its opponent collected 35. At the end of the first half, the score was 54-16 in Croatia's favor.
Although Iran played better in the third quarter, gaining 23 points and restricting Croatia to only 16, it could not recover from the large first-half deficit. Croatia picked up its performance in the fourth quarter, earning 21 points while Iran was limited to 18.
The final score was 91-57 in Croatia's favor, ending Iran's final chance of victory in the preliminary tournament.
(Source: en.beijing2008.cn)-