After coming so close in 2005 with a bronze, and a silver in 2011, France has finally won their first ever Eurobasket title, defeating Lithuania 80-66 in the championship game.
(Discuss France-Lithuania Online).
Down three points after one quarter, France blitzed Lithuania in the second; outscoring Lietuva by 19 points. Les Bleus would keep Lithuania at arm’s length the rest of the way, with Lithuania never cutting the lead below double-digits.
In the decisive second quarter – much of Lithuania’s defensive focus was rightfully on Tony Parker, but that allowed Nicholas Batum and Florent Pietrus, and rest of team France to get easy shots in the lane. Batum scored 10 points and Pietrus scored 6 points on three consecutive layups, opening up the difference that would remain for the balance of the game.
And to cap off that important second quarter, Antoine Diot would hit a three at the buzzer – France would go into halftime with a 16 point lead 50-34 – with Tony Parker having only 4 points.
Nicholas Batum shook off a terrible semifinal game to lead France with 17 points, all in the first half. Boris Diaw added 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Parker would be held to 6-17 shooting and 12 points – most of those points after the game had already been determined. Batum also had 6 rebounds and 2 steals.
Lithuania was led by Linas Kleiza’s 20 points. Mantas Kalnietis had 19 points for Lietuva. Go here for the France-Lithuania boxscore or discuss Eurobasket in our forum.
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