It was a match for the ages. A final-second thriller that ended in disappointment for the home crowd and their heavily-favoured team. Spain were not expected to lose after Russia made sure on Saturday that the Lithuania-Spain dream final was never to be realised when they beat the Ramunas Siskauskas-led team in a classic semi-final battle.

Little did we know that night that the Russians were far from done with their miracle-working magic. Andrei Kirilenko and his team-mates had one more big finale in store as they applied relentless pressure on the heavily-favoured home team to come away with the gold medal.

For much of the game, it had seemed the reigning world champions would finally seize the European crown in a closely-fought battle. Spain often led as Russia were content to keep the score close. At times during the second half they took the lead in spite of third-quarter foul trouble for Kirilenko and Viktor Khryapa.

'Holden’s shot went high up, fell on the rim, bounced on the backboard and went in with only three seconds left'

Consider the following: The game was started with a barrage of Spanish three-point shots as the hosts pulled away 15-4; The scoreline was held until the end of the first quarter when it was 22-11; Spain led by five points (59-54) with only 1:17 left in the game, but did not manage to score another point.

Let me run you through those last 77 seconds. Kirilenko hit two free throws for 59-56. Spain brought the ball upcourt only needing to get as much time off the clock as they possibly could. Instead, an errant entry pass from Carlos Jimenez intended for NBA star Pau Gasol was easily intercepted by Kirilenko. He immediately took off with the ball and the Russians got a two-point bucket from Sergei Morgunov with 43 seconds left (59-58).

After a timeout, Spain finally did what they were supposed to do, as they ran the shot clock down and got the entry pass to Pau Gasol. But again they committed one huge mistake. They did not clear enough space for their star forward, who was quickly doubled up by JR Holden (the American-born Russian). Holden stole the ball from Gasol. As the seconds ticked down it became clear Holden was only going to want one last opportunity for the win. He penetrated the lane only to step back, pump fake and then shoot. Juan Carlos Navarro promptly took off like a jet airplane with the pump fake and Holden’s shot went high up, fell on the rim, bounced on the backboard and went in with only three seconds left.