INDIANAPOLIS -- For the first time in three days, the U.S. team did not lose.

Paul Pierce and Jermaine O'Neal scored 15 points apiece as the United States defeated Puerto Rico 84-74 on Friday night in a classification round game at the World Championships.

The U.S. team will play Spain for fifth place at 10:45 p.m. EDT Saturday night.

Only about 1,000 people were in attendance, the latest disappointing crowd in a tournament that has been marked by tiny crowds in spacious venues. In their loss to Yugoslavia on Thursday night, the American fans were drowned out by their Yugoslav counterparts.

"We thought we'd be happy to have it in Indianapolis, but last night it looked like we were playing it in Belgrade,'' said USA Basketball president Tom Jernstedt, who acknowledged that the event was grossly overpriced.

Ticket prices ranged from $10 to $58 for the first round, from $12 to $66 for the second round, from $24 to $110 for the quarterfinals, $65 to $135 for the semifinals and $95 to $190 for the gold medal game.

"We thought it would be comparable to an NBA Finals, an Olympics or an NCAA Final Four from a pricing standpoint. If we had to do it again, we would have changed the pricing structure,'' Jernstedt said.

The U.S. team, already without Elton Brand (sore knee) and Shawn Marion (pulled groin), lost O'Neal to a turned ankle early in the fourth quarter.

The Americans trailed 25-19 after the first quarter, but took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Baron Davis with 6:49 left in the second quarter.

Jerome Mincy hit a 3-pointer with 6:24 left in the fourth quarter to cut Puerto Rico's deficit to five, 69-64, but Davis answered with a pair of 3s in an 8-0 run that put the U.S. team back in control.

In other classification round games, it was Russia 77, Angola 66; Turkey 94, China 86; and Spain 105, Brazil 89. Russia will play Turkey for ninth place and Angola will play China for 11th on Saturday morning.

Saturday afternoon's semifinals are Yugoslavia-New Zealand and Germany-Argentina. The gold medal game is Sunday.

Spain 105, Brazil 89
Juan Carlos Navarro scored 22 points to lead Spain to a 105-89 win over Brazil on Friday in the consolation round of the World Championships.

Spain (6-2) will play the winner of the United States-Puerto Rico game for fifth place on Saturday.

Brazil (4-4) lost its fourth straight game after starting the championships with four straight victories. Brazil was playing without injured starters Marcelo Machado and Vanderlei Mazzuchini. Machado was averaging 20.9 points.

Pau Gasol, the NBA's rookie of the year with the Memphis Grizzlies, scored 21 points and Jorge Garbajosa added 16.

Rogerio Klafke scored 19 for Brazil and Alex Garcia had 15.

Garcia and Navarro were involved in a brief shoving match in the third quarter. The two bumped chests and pointed fingers before being separated. Navarro was whistled for a technical foul.

Spain jumped out to a 14-point lead early in the first half, but Brazil scored 10 straight points in the second and trailed 54-47 at the half.

Spain then hit four 3-pointers in the third and began to pull away. Garbajosa sank a 40-footer off an inbound pass as time expired in the third, giving Spain an 88-64 lead.

Brazil made only 23 of 37 free throw attempts.

Notes
The Utah Jazz are close to signing Puerto Rico guard Carlos Arroyo to a one-year contract. ... Yugoslavian center Dejan Koturovic will visit with the Boston Celtics this week. ... Both the Spurs and Rockets are interested in Argentine forward Andres Noccioni, but his Spanish team Tau Ceramica has a $3 million buyout clause, making it unlikely he'll be in the NBA anytime soon.

Information from the Associated Press and ESPN TheMagazine's Ric Bucher was used in this report.