BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- China fell short to pull down one of the biggest surprises in the Olympic history as they lost 85-75 to world champions Spain, while Croatia upset European champions Russia 85-78 in Tuesday's men's basketball competitions at the Beijing Olympic Games.

    Pau Gasol scored nine out of 29 points in the overtime and let China's Yao Ming be fouled out 2:28 minutes left to give Spain an unexpected hard-fought win in Group B.

Yao Ming (R) of China reacts during Men's Preliminary Round Group B-Game 22 between Spain and China of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games basketball event at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium in Beijing, China, Aug. 12, 2008. (Xinhua/Meng Yongmin) Photo Gallery>>>

    Mark Gasol, the younger one of the Gasol brothers, made a fade-away jumper against Yao with 19.7 seconds left in the regular time to pull the game into overtime.

    China (0-2) led 46-37 before the break and 61-47 after three quarters, but Spain (2-0) scored 10 points to close it on 64-61 with 5:25 minutes left in the game.

    Rudy Fernandez had 21 points, eight rebounds, six assists for Spain, while Chinese Liu Wei having 19 points.

    Croatia had their second consecutive win thanks to Zoran Planinic's 3-pointer and a crucial offensive rebounds down the stretch.

    Marko Popovic made three free-throws to score 22 points after Planinic buried a 3-pointer to make it 82-74 with 1:10 minutes. Planinic, who had 20 points, grabbed an offensive rebound on the following possession to ensure the victory.

    Andrey Kirilenko had an all-round game, 18 points, six rebounds, three blocks and three assists for Russia (1-1).

    Lithuania led the Group A pool when Linas Kleiza had 22 points and Sarunas Jasikevicius 20 to lead Lithuania to a 99-67 trounce of Iran.

    The Asian champions had a quick start to lead 20-15 in the first quarter, but Lithuania scored 18 straight points to crash Iranians' confidence.

    Hamed Ehadadi led Iran by 21 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and three steals, but also committed eight turnovers.

Yao Ming (C) of China hammers a dunk during Men's Preliminary Round Group B-Game 22 between Spain and China of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games basketball event at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium in Beijing, China, Aug. 12, 2008. (Xinhua/Li Jundong) Photo Gallery>>>

    The pool B is led by the United States, which snatched down another big-margin victory over Angola, 97-76, after beating China 101-70 on Sunday.

    Dwayne Wade had the team-high 19 points and Dwight Howard adding 14. LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony contributed 12 each.

    Carlos Morais led Angola (0-2) with 24 points.

    Vasileios Spanoulis had 23 points to lead Greece (1-1) to a 87-64 win over Germany (1-1) in a Group B match.

    Germany were held to 10 points in the second quarter to trailed 44-33 before the break.

    Dirk Nowitzki had only 13 points, shooting 3-out-of-8, when Germany were beaten every quarter.

    Manu Ginobili had 21 points, seven assists and four rebounds to help Argentina (1-1) beat Australia (0-2) 85-68 in the last-night match.

    Patrick Mills had 22 points for Australia.