Croatia beats Iran basketball 91-57

The Iranian outfit, which was enjoying its first appearance in the Olympics, lost its final chance of victory to Croatia on Monday.

Iran had a rhythmic start in the first five minutes, leading 6-2. However, the team's offensive play shrunk in the remaining minutes of the first half, ending the first quarter 8-19, and the first half 16-54.

Although Iran made a fresh start in the third quarter, scoring 23 points and restricting Croatia to only 16, it was not enough to recover from the large first-half deficit.

Iran's Mohammad-Samad Nik-khah was the game's highest scorer with 25 points and collecting five rebounds, the official Beijing Olympics website reported.

Iranian star Hamed Haddadi, who has attracted the interests of several NBA clubs with his brilliant performance in the Olympics, scored seventeen points and collected fifteen rebounds.

The Iranian squad had previously lost its games against Argentina, Lithuania, Russia and Australia - Group A participants of the Men's Basketball tournament.