By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Spain survived Russia’s second-half comeback from an 18-point deficit (51 – 33, three minutes into the third) and won 93 – 85 to climb at the podium of the EuroBasket tournament for the ninth time in the last 10 continental tournaments.
Brothers in Arms: Pau and Marc Gasol were combined for more than half of their team’s scoring output (26 and 25 respectively). Pau registered a double-double after also grabbing 10 rebounds and was the main factor behind his team gaining a substantial (45-28) halftime lead.
Meanwhile in Russia: Near the end of the third quarter, Sergey Bazarevich decided to pull out his main superstar and top scorer Alexey Shved (18 points) and try a more agile squad with Vladimir Ivlev and Andrey Zubkov at the frontline spots. This paid off since his team became tougher and managed more stops than before.
Ivlev made it a single-digit game, 66 – 57 at the beginning of the fourth and the game suddenly acquired a new interest…
Comeback incomplete: With Shved still sitting at the bench and Bazarevich finding solutions even at reserves like Evgeny Baburin, the Russian squad pressed hard enough to make it a 2-point game, 78 – 76 with a downtown shot by Zukbov.
A bit later, Vitaly Fridzon had a golden opportunity for the 83 – 82 but air-balled a wide open 3-pointer. Spain immediately struck in transition and then another miss by Shved allowed Pau Gasol to make it 87 – 79 with 1:11 left. Russia had no juice left after its previous huge efforts and Spain remained at a distance until the final buzzer.
(Photo credit: FIBA.basketball)
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