OLY - Top 10 basketball moments from the Olympics (Part I)

LONDON (Olympics) – After 16 days of Olympic basketball, 76 hard-fought games and 24 gold, silver and bronze medals distributed it is time to look back on the best moments of the London 2012 Olympic Basketball Tournaments.

Every top ten can be disputed, which is why we are using the Facebook poll we ran on Monday, as a basis.

Here are moments 10 to five.

10 - Spain restricting France to six points in the fourth quarter of their Quarter-Final.

The French seemed to have learnt from their EuroBasket Final defeat in Lithuania, as Vincent Collet’s side entered the fourth quarter with a two-point lead. But in the fourth quarter Spain decided to defend, restricting the French to a mere six points in the fourth quarter. Spain would win by seven.

9 - Mohamed Hadidane’s 20 points in 14 minutes vs France

France can be forgiven for not having paid attention to Mohamed Hadidane in the build-up to their game. The Tunisian power forward had had few minutes on court and had failed to score in two of Tunisia’s opening three games of the tournament.

Tunisia were trailing by 17 as they entered the fourth quarter. But Hadidane launched what would have been one of the greatest comebacks in Olympic history. He scored thirteen fourth-quarter points (of a total of 20 in only 14 minutes on court).

8 – Celine Dumerc’s clutch threes against Great Britain

The French won silver in London, thanks to Celine Dumerc’s numerous clutch performances. Trailing by three with 10 seconds on the clock, Dumerc drives up the court evading the foul. She shoots from way downtown to bring the game into overtime. Same position, same shot, same result in overtime, but this time to bring France three clear and carry them to victory.

7 – Lauren Jackson breaks women’s all-time Olympic scoring record

In London – at her fourth Olympics – she surpassed both USA’s Lisa Leslie and Brazil’s Janeth Arcain to become the women’s all-time leading scorer of the Olympics. She set the record during Australia’s Quarter-Final game against China. Jackson scored 40 more points over the next two-and-a-half games to finish the tournament with 575.

6 – Liz Cambage dunk

The 11,000 spectators of the Basketball Arena rub their eyes in amazement as Liz Cambage charges down a crowded lane, takes off and delivers a dunk against Russia. It did happen and it was the first ever by a girl at the Olympics.

Tomorrow we reveal your favourite Olympic moment for London 2012 as we countdown from five to one.