World champions Spain found their form to beat Germany 72-59 on Thursday to take the third victory at the Group B of the men's basketball competitions at the Beijing Olympic Games.

Spain, which survived a breath-taking 85-75 overtime win over China on Tuesday, used a 17-0 run banking the second and third quarter to take the control of the game on 50-36.

Jose Manuel Calderon had 15 points, Alex Mumbru 14 and Pau Gasol 13 to pace the way to enter the quarter-finals.

German pair Steffen Hamman and Dirk Nowitzki had 15 and 11 points respectively.

Germany were better off on the 3-pointer battle in the first half, leading 15-12 in the first period and 36-33 before Spain started the rally.

Spain buried nine in their 24 attempts from behind the arc, while Germany were 7-out-of-22.

(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2008)