With Parker and De Colo only combining for 13 points, it was Mickael Gelabale (11 points), new Utah Jazz forward Boris Diaw (10 points, 6 rebounds) and Kim Tillie who helped (10 points) keep Les Bleus afloat in the scoring department.
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Les Bleus don’t play again until Thursday, while the Philippines will need a win against New Zealand on Wednesday to stay in the hunt for a place in the semifinals. The overall victor of the tournament will earn the Olympic bid for the 2016 Rio games.
With Canada locked into the semis, Senegal and Turkey will face-off in a do-or-die game on Thursday. Italy will play Mexico, while Greece takes on Croatia in Turin, Italy.
The 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament started in Turin on July 4 and will run through July 9. Maurice Ndour had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Senegal, which shot just 27.5 percent from the field – just 25 percent on 2-point attempts. The French, the tournament favorite, outscored New Zealand 28-11 in the fourth quarter.
The Canadians, also featuring centre Tristan Thompson of the reigning National Basketball Association champions Cleveland Cavaliers, will gun for a semi-finals spot when they go against minnows Senegal on Wednesday.
The Gilas Pilipinas went into half-time down merely two, on the strength of strong three-point shooting and the active inside presence of naturalised player Andray Blatche. At one point in the third quarter, France had been shooting 0-of-14 from 3-point range. Blatche tallied 30 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and a block in a valiant, albeit losing, effort.
With Andrew Wiggins choosing to forgo the qualifying tournament, Cory Joseph was the big scorer for Canada in their first game in the Philippines.
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Turning Point: After Tunisia closed the gap to 29-27, Marco Belinelli hit a three-pointer to give the hosts a 32-27 lead at half-time.
