Scola shines as Argentina breeze into World Cup final

Basketball - FIBA World Cup - Semi Finals - Argentina v France - Wukesong Sport Arena, Beijing, China - September 13, 2019 Argentina's Luis Scola celebrates victory after the match REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

BEIJING (Reuters) - Power forward Luis Scola scored a game-high 28 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as Argentina breezed past France 80-66 to book their place in Sunday's basketball World Cup final against Spain.

France blew the tournament wide open by beating favourites and reigning champions the United States in the quarter-finals, but they never got going here as centre Rudy Gobert struggled and shots from beyond the arc would not drop for them.

Frank Ntilikina top-scored for the French with 16 points and Louis Labeyrie added eight off the bench, but all too often they left open lanes to the basket for the aggressive Argentine attack to exploit.

Basketball - FIBA World Cup - Semi Finals - Argentina v France - Wukesong Sport Arena, Beijing, China - September 13, 2019 Argentina's Luis Scola celebrates victory after the match REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Scola made the most of their defensive lapses, scoring ten points in the first quarter and he went on to hit three of four three-pointers and make nine of 10 free throws over the course of the game in a dominant offensive performance.

Facundo Campazzo drained a deep three to send the Argentines into halftime leading by seven, and though Labeyrie's strong first-half showing off the bench had kept the French in touch, they were down by double digits midway through the third period.

Gobert's game was summed up by a third-quarter dunk attempt that would have cut the lead to eight, but the ball cannoned off the back of the rim as France's attempt at a comeback stalled.

Basketball - FIBA World Cup - Semi Finals - Argentina v France - Wukesong Sport Arena, Beijing, China - September 13, 2019 Argentina's Luis Scola in action with France's Vincent Poirier and Nicolas Batum REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Argentina's smothering defence limited Gobert's opportunities inside and forced France into a succession of three-pointers, but they could only hit seven of their 31 long-range shots on the night.

Led by the energetic efforts of Scola, Argentina closed out the game and will now play their first World Cup final since 2002 against a Spain team that beat Australia 95-88 in a double-overtime thriller earlier on Friday.

Basketball - FIBA World Cup - Semi Finals - Argentina v France - Wukesong Sport Arena, Beijing, China - September 13, 2019 Argentina's Luis Scola celebrates victory after the match REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Toby Davis and Christian Radnedge)

Basketball - FIBA World Cup - Semi Finals - Argentina v France - Wukesong Sport Arena, Beijing, China - September 13, 2019 Argentina's Luis Scola celebrates victory with his family after the match REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Basketball - FIBA World Cup - Semi Finals - Argentina v France - Wukesong Sport Arena, Beijing, China - September 13, 2019 France's Nando De Colo in action with Argentina's Tayavek Gallizzi REUTERS/Jason Lee

Basketball - FIBA World Cup - Semi Finals - Argentina v France - Wukesong Sport Arena, Beijing, China - September 13, 2019 France's Evan Fournier in action with Argentina's Nicolas Laprovittola and Facundo Campazzo REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Basketball - FIBA World Cup - Semi Finals - Argentina v France - Wukesong Sport Arena, Beijing, China - September 13, 2019 Argentina's Nicolas Laprovittola in action with France's Nando De Colo REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Basketball - FIBA World Cup - Semi Finals - Argentina v France - Wukesong Sport Arena, Beijing, China - September 13, 2019 France's Evan Fournier in action with Argentina's Gabriel Deck REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Basketball - FIBA World Cup - Semi Finals - Argentina v France - Wukesong Sport Arena, Beijing, China - September 13, 2019 France's Andrew Albicy in action with Argentina's Marcos Delia and Nicolas Laprovittola REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Basketball - FIBA World Cup - Semi Finals - Argentina v France - Wukesong Sport Arena, Beijing, China - September 13, 2019 Argentina's Nicolas Laprovittola is kissed by Facundo Campazzo as they celebrate victory after the match REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Basketball - FIBA World Cup - Semi Finals - Argentina v France - Wukesong Sport Arena, Beijing, China - September 13, 2019 Argentina's Gabriel Deck and Patricio Garino celebrate victory after the match REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Basketball - FIBA World Cup - Semi Finals - Argentina v France - Wukesong Sport Arena, Beijing, China - September 13, 2019 Argentina's Gabriel Deck celebrates victory with teammates after the match REUTERS/Jason Lee