Milos Vujanic hit a pair of free throws with 5.6 seconds to play to give world champions Serbia and Montenegro their first win of the Olympic men’s basketball tournament with a 74-72 triumph over Italy yesterday.

Gianluca Basile had a chance to tie the game, but his 12-footer clanged off the rim as time ran out, spoiling Italy’s eight point comeback in the final two minutes.

In other preliminary round play yesterday, China beat New Zealand 69-62 on the back of Yao Ming’s 39-point performance and Australia beat Angola 83-59. Puerto Rico came back to earth, losing to Lithuania 98-90 in their first game since handing the United States their first Olympic defeat since 1988.

Serbia and Montenegro needed a win after losing in the final seconds to Argentina on Sunday, and looked to be in control with a 13 point lead halfway through the third quarter. But a couple of turnovers let Italy back into the game.

“It was a difficult game, exactly like the battle against Argentina two days ago,” said Serbian coach Zelimir Obradovic. Italy tied the game with 19 seconds remaining, but Gianmarco Pozzecco fouled Vujanic, a draft choice of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns.

An angry Yao Ming took his frustrations out on New Zealand dominating at both ends of the court. The 23-year-old Yao, who at 2.29 metres (7 ft 6 in) is the tallest man in Olympic history, was so disappointed when China lost their opening match to Spain that he threatened to retire from international play. But yesterday’s performance, which included 13 rebounds, should go a long way to changing the feelings of the Houston Rockets’ all-star.

“He’s not going to retire. When you interview a player right after a very bad performance, not giving him time to rest a bit, he might say something he doesn’t really mean,” said coach Del Harris, a NBA veteran who was brought in to prepare the Chinese team with an eye on the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Puerto Rico’s Utah Jazz guard Carlos Arroyo and the rest of the team could not find the same magic against a powerful Lithuania. Arroyo had 25 points, as did team mate Elias Ayuso, but the Puerto Rican bench provided little more.

Allen Iverson scored 17 points despite a fractured right thumb and the reeling United States team was pushed to the brink before beating Greece 77-71.

The American team of National Basketball Association millionaires were humbled by a 92-73 loss Sunday to Puerto Rico - the first Olympic loss by US NBA teams in 25 games and only the third US men’s loss in 112 starts.

And in an emotional, physical match-up against a loudly backed home side, the Americans barely escaped another humiliation. Antonios Fotsis, who scored a game-high 22 points, and Michail Kakiouzis sank 3-pointers in an 8-0 Greek run that pulled the Games hosts within 62-61 with 6:15 remaining.