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France stun Serbia to reach last eight with Germany, Croatia, Greece at European Championship
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-09-21 08:26 NOVI SAD, Sept 20 (Reuters) - France shocked
Serbia and Montenegro with a magnificent second half performance to upset them
74-71 in their playoff on Tuesday and deny the hosts a place in the European
championship quarter-finals.
France's Tony Parker (R) of the NBA's San
Antonio Spurs drives past Serbia and Montenegro's Dejan Bodiroga during
their basketball match for a place in the quarterfinals at the European
Championship in Novi Sad, Serbia & Montenegro September 20,
2005.[Reuters] | The French overcame Serbia's
44-35 halftime lead with resolute zone defending and incisive offensive play at
the other end to qualify for a clash with defending champions Lithuania in the
last eight.
Germany, Croatia and Greece join the French in the quarter-finals after also
winning their playoffs on Tuesday. Russia, Lithuania, Slovenia and Spain had
already qualified as first-round group winners.
Tony Parker, who had to endure three dreadful preliminary group games for
France, was instrumental this time in orchestrating a win that silenced the
raucous 10,000 home crowd.
Parker scored 13 points, veteran shooting guard Antoine Rigaudeau netted 14,
young forward Mickael Gelabale had 12, shooting 5-of-6 from the field and Boris
Diaw added 10 for an athletic French team that outscored their rivals 40-22 in
the paint and out-rebounded them 36-31.
Serbia made a bright with Marko Jaric scoring nine points in the opening
period to give the hosts a 23-18 lead at the end of the first quarter and the
advantage soared to 36-22 midway through the second as Serbia's guards linked up
well with the pivots to allow a barrage of points in the paint and uncontested
perimeter shots.
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