The effervescent Gasol, who has carried injury-hit Spain throughout the competition, put the icing on the cake with a dunk on the buzzer to silence a raucous home crowd. “Until an opponent overcomes us, we will be there”. Spain went on to tie France by outscoring Les Bleus, 18-10, in the fourth quarter, with an off-the-dribble bounce from Gasol providing a major spark in the waning moments of regulation.
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Spain now awaits the victor of Friday’s semifinal between Serbia and Lithuania. Gobert had eight points and 13 rebounds, but him fouling out late in overtime helped Gasol get free for those dunks.
The Eurobasket semifinal between France and Spain, with an Olympic bid on the line, lived up to the hype.
France admittedly looked like the stronger side for the majority of Thursday’s clash, but offensive lethargy prevented Les Bleus from keeping pace with a Spanish side that outscored the French, 32-19, during the fourth quarter and overtime.
The final and the bronze medal game will be played on Sunday. The Chicago Bulls center is the tournament’s leading scorer and likely to be its Most Valuable Player regardless of the score in the final.
Rodriguez had 15 points for Spain.
Gasol’s hook shot gave Spain a 62-61 lead and guard Sergio Rodriguez made a layup for a three-point Spain lead, before Batum nailed a three-pointer with 14 seconds remaining to level. Meanwhile, Spain’s defense limited French standouts Tony Parker and Nicolas Batum to a combined 7-of-31 (22.6 percent) shooting.
Italy beat the Czech Republic 85-70 to place sixth.
The top two teams from the 24-nation tournament will advance to next year’s games in Rio de Janeiro and the next five enter three intercontinental qualifying tournaments for an extra three spots.
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The losing semifinalists also will take part in Olympic qualifying.
