Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading

Old rivals Spain and France set up Eurobasket final showdown

France's Rudy Gobert takes aim against Poland. . ©AFP

Berlin (AFP) - Spain edged Germany 96-91 in a Eurobasket semi-final to set up a showdown with the continent's other recent dominant nation, France, in the final.

World champions Spain, who are using the tournament to rebuild their team, reached their 10th Euro final.They have won three of the last five.

France won their only European crown, led by Tony Parker, in 2013, two years after losing to Spain, led by Pau Gasol, in the final.

On Friday, in the evening's opening match, France thrashed Poland 95-54  as NBA star Rudy Gobert dominated defensively and Guerschon Yabusele top-scored with 22 points.

The Olympic silver medallists held the bewildered Poles to just 32 percent shooting.

Poland had created one of the shocks of the tournament by beating Luka Doncic's Slovenia in the quarter-finals, but were swamped in Berlin.Not a single Polish player scored in double figures.

"We wanted to show that we can defend and tonight we proved that we can," said Gobert.

"If we carry on with the same spirit we can go on and win this thing."

Gobert and fellow big man Vincent Poirier allowed the Poles little space inside and Real Madrid's Yabusele and NBA small forward Evan Fournier were clinical in attack for the French.

Hosts Germany led Spain by seven points in the fourth quarter but neither the support of 14,000 spectators nor 30 points from point guard Dennis Schroeder were enough to hold off the Spanish.

Naturalised American point guard Lorenzo Brown scored 29 points for a Spanish squad with eight of its 12 players appearing in a first international tournament.

One veteran Rudy Fernandez, 37,  was carried off court by his teammates after reaching his fifth Eurobasket final. 

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.