Some of the games in Athens have been exceedingly close. Take this one, for example. Two Oceania teams that have a new, and decidedly heated, rivalry. And no, it's not the Kiwi / Oz game... it's the Japanese!

The speedsters used a lineup of 3.0 Shimakawa – 2.5 Tamura – 2.0 Misaka – and 0.5 Ogino against the Aussies. Oi! Of further note, it'll be difficult for the classifiers to make final decisions when the two guys they wanted to see the most (Ito and Batt) made a total of 12 seconds on the floor between the two of them...

Back to the Kiwis now, as they gave our neighbours down south a run for their money, with the US team proving their medal potential, outlasting the Islanders by a score of 35-32. The Kiwis only faltered in the 2nd quarter, but it was by enough of a margin for the Americans to capitalize on throughout the rest of the game.

More in a little while...