The 2009 Eurobasket tournament (also known as the European basketball championship), taking place in Poland, runs from September 7-20 and features 16 national country teams, separated into four groups. InsideHoops.com provides basic all the essential daily results and key info on one page.

The preliminary round ended Sept. 9. Israel (0-3), Latvia (1-2), Great Britain (0-3), Bulgaria (0-3) were eliminated.

The semi-finals were on Sept. 19, and on Sunday Sept. 20 Spain faces Serbia for 1st/2nd place, while Slovenia meets Greece for 3rd/4th.

On Sept. 20, Spain beat Serbia to win 1st place. And Greece edged Slovenia to win 3rd. See final standings below.

GAME RECAPS: Sept.7 | Sept.8 | Sept.9 | Sept.11 | Sept.12 | Sept.13 | Sept.14 | Sept.15 | Sept.16 | Sept.17 | Sept.18 | Sept.19 | Sept.20


KEY LINKS: Final Standings | Initial Groups | Notable players
Schedule/Recaps | Stats | Fan discussion thread | Full preview

INTRO TO EUROBASKET

The AP reports (September 6, 2009): The European basketball championships open Monday, and Spain is once again starting out as the favorite. The Spanish team enters with a squad laden with N.B.A. talent and the motivation to win a European title after losing in the final at home two years ago... Spain hosted the 2007 competition, only to be upset by Russia, 60-59, in the final... Russia begins its title defense against Latvia in Group B, but without Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko, who averaged 18 points per game and was the tournament’s most valuable player in 2007. In what could have been an intriguing matchup, France opens against Germany in the other half of Group B. San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker leads France, which will attempt to return to the podium after dropping to eighth place two years ago. Germany will be without its N.B.A. star, Dirk Nowitzki, the Dallas Mavericks forward.

INSIDEHOOPS.COM EDITOR PREDICTION

The obvious favorite is Spain and I see no reason why they won't win. The team is loaded with high-level, high-IQ players who have tons of experience playing together. They're able to play as a total team unit. This is their gold medal to lose. France is also worth watching as a solid underdog.


FINAL STANDINGS

1. Spain
2. Serbia
3. Greece
4. Slovenia
5. France
6. Croatia
7. Russia
8. Turkey
9. F.Y.R. of Macedonia
9. Poland
11. Germany
11. Lithuania
13. Great Britain
13. Israel
13. Bulgaria
13. Latvia


EUROBASKET GROUPS

Group A: Macedonia, Croatia, Israel, Greece
Group B: Russia, France, Germany, Latvia
Group C: Great Britain, Serbia, Spain, Slovenia
Group D: Poland, Turkey, Lithuania, Bulgaria

Sept. 10 update: Those were the original groups. Now, Israel (0-3), Latvia (1-2), Great Britain (0-3) and Bulgaria (0-3) have been eliminated, and the remaining teams are moved into two new groups:

Group E:
Greece, France, Croatia, Germany, Russia, Macedonia
Group F:
Turkey, Slovenia, Serbia, Spain, Poland, Lithuania


NOTABLE EUROBASKET PLAYERS
Key Eurobasket players of NBA fan interest

Bulgaria: None.

Croatia: Roko-Leni Ukic, Mario Kasun, Zoran Planinic.

Macedonia: None.

France: Tony Parker, Boris Diaw, Nicolas Batum, Ronny Turiaf, Ian Mahinmi, Florent Pietrus.

Germany: None. (D.Nowitzki, C.Kaman aren't playing)

Great Britain: Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Robert Archibald, Joel Freeland.

Greece: Nick Calathes, Antonios Fotsis, Kostas Koufos, Sofoklis Schortsanitis.

Israel: Lior Eliyahu, Yotam Halperin.

Latvia: Andris Biedrins.

Lithuania: Linas Kleiza.

Poland: Marcin Gortat, Maciej Lampe.

Russia: Sergey Monya. (A.Kirilenko isn't playing)

Serbia: Nenad Krstic, Kosta Perovic.

Slovenia: Goran Dragic, Bostjan Nachbar, Primoz Brezec, Uros Slokar.

Spain: Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio, Rudy Fernandez, Jorge Garbajosa, Raul Lopez, Juan Carlos Navarro, Felipe Reyes.

Turkey: Omer Asik, Ersan Ilyasova, Hedo Turkoglu.


EUROBASKET GAME SCHEDULE/RECAPS
Listed in local Poland time, which is 6 hours ahead of Eastern Time (ET)

September 7

Greece 86, Macedonia 54 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Greece was all over their neighbors from F.Y.R. of Macedonia on Monday afternoon as they opened EuroBasket 2009 with a convincing 86-54 victory. Vasilis Spanoulis had 17 points in the win... Vasilis Spanoulis was the top scorer for Greece with 17 points and four rebounds, Sofoklis Schortsanitis and Ioannis Bourousis added 11 each while Efstratios Perperoglou added 10. Jeremiah Massey led F.Y.R Of Macedonia with 12 points, and was the only player to score in double-digits... Ioannis Bouroursis of Greece was the main reason his team enjoyed such a smooth start. The first play of Greece in the competition was to push the ball to him in the paint for a successful post-up move, and from there he continued to be a big presence on both ends of the floor.

Russia 81, Latvia 68 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Kelly McCarty scored a game-high 24 points including two critical fourth quarter baskets to lead reigning champions Russia to an 81-68 victory over Latvia in their opening game in Group B of EuroBasket 2009. Sergey Bykov added 22 points and Timofey Mozgov added 10 points in the paint as Russian coach David Blatt got a full team effort defensively in holding Latvian NBA star center Andris Biedrins to just six points and Latvia to just 68 points.. Latvia did receive 22 points from Kaspars Kambala and Kristaps Janicenkos added 14 points, but it was not enough as Kestutis Kemzura's team struggled to just 34 percent shooting for the game... Latvia's NBA big man Andris Biedrins scored just six points in 22 minutes.

Slovenia 72, Great Britain 59 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Slovenia used a near-perfect fourth quarter shooting display to shake off stubborn Great Britain and secure a 72-59 win in EuroBasket Group C in Warsaw. Jure Zdovc's men heated up in the final frame, hitting nine of 13 field goal attempts (including three of four from three-point territory) as they outscored their opponents 21-12, at one stage reeling off 10 unanswered points to turn their 57-52 edge into a 67-52 cushion. Erazem Lorbek had a game-high 19 points despite playing only 20 minutes due to foul trouble. He was perfect from the field, hitting all eight of his shots and both his free-throws... Domen Lorbek and Samo Udrih accounted for 11 of Slovenia's 22 points in the final frame.

Poland 90, Bulgaria 78 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Poland electrified their home crowd with a fine performance against Bulgaria in the opening EuroBasket Group D game in Wroclaw. Riding the strong first-half performances of Michal Ignerski and Marcin Gortat and a suffocating defense, the tournament hosts won 90-78... The newcomer to the Poland team, Prokom Sopot shooting guard David Logan of the United States, had a game-high 23 points while Michal Ignerski poured in 22, 11 of which came in the first quarter... A Logan three-ball at the buzzer gave the hosts a 52-37 lead at the break, with Poland's Orlando Magic center Gortat scoring 12 of his 16 points in the opening half. He also pulled down 10 rebounds and swatted five shots... The new addition to Bulgaria's team, Earl Rowland, led them with 20 points.

Croatia 86, Israel 79 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: It was close for a huge upset, but at the end of Day One in Group A in Poznan, Croatia wrote an 86-79 victory over Israel and pealed some pressure off their heads... Croatia dominated the game for the first 15 minutes, but Israel fought back time after time... Nikola Vujcic led Croatia with 21 points, 16 of them in the second half when things mattered. Three back court players - Davor Kus, Marko Popovic and Roko-Leni Ukic scored 13 points each... Lior Eliyahu was on fire for Israel with 31 points in 76.4% all of them in the last three quarters... Eliyahu had 31 points in 76.4% from the field, six rebounds and three assists.

France 70, Germany 65 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Tony Parker scored his team's final 11 points to help France fend off up-start Germany with a 70-65 victory in their opening match of Group B at EuroBasket 2009. Parker had a game-high 19 points as well as six rebounds and four assists while Ronny Turiaf collected 15 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks for Vincent Collet's team, which reached Poland through the Additional Qualifying Round. Nicolas Batum added 12 points and nine rebounds in helping France out-rebound Germany 46-32 though Les Bleus made just 18 of 33 foul shots (55 percent)... Germany, who have five players 21 years old or younger, committed just 10 turnovers and were led by 13 points from Sven Schultze. Demond Greene hit for 12 points and Patrick Femerling chipped in 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocks...

Serbia 66, Spain 57 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Serbia sent world champions Spain crashing to a 66-57 defeat on the opening night of the EuroBasket. Playing at a frenetic pace from start to finish on both ends of the floor, Dusan Ivkovic's team outhustled the Spanish and sprung the biggest surprise in Poland so far... Serbia harassed the Spanish shooters non-stop for 40 minutes, which led to a woeful two of 19 (11%) shooting from long range and 18 of 42 (43%) inside the arc... Blues captain Nenad Krstic led the team with 17 points and six rebounds... InsideHoops.com adds: Juan Carlos Navarro led Spain with 14 points but on just 2-of-9 shooting. Felipe Reyes shot 5-of-6 for 12 points and 6 rebounds. Pau Gasol had 9 points and 7 rebounds. Marc Gasol had 4 points, 9 rebounds and 5 turnovers.

Turkey 84, Lithuania 76 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Turkey answered their critics with an 84-76 upset of Lithuania in the teams' Group D opener in Wroclaw. Marijonas Petravicius had a game-high 21 points in defeat while Hedo Turkoglu led the Turks in scoring with 19. Turkey, who struggled in the recent Efes Pilsen World Cup event they hosted, broke open a close game early in the fourth quarter... Turkey finished 23 of 26 from the charity stripe, with guard Ender Arslan scoring nine of 10 from the line. Lithuania were 13 of 18 at the charity stripe. Arslan, who scored seven of his 16 points in the final stanza, was ecstatic... Turkey were superior shooting the ball from long range. They were seven of 17 (54%) while Lithuania made just nine of 25 (36%).

September 8

Macedonia 82 Israel 79 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: History took place today in Poznan as F.Y.R of Macedonia wrote their first ever win in the final round of EuroBasket after an 82-79 victory over Israel. With this win they climb to a 1-1 record, while Israel dropped to 0-2 before the closing day tomorrow... The Macedonians dominated the boards, especially in the second half and didn't allow Israel to regain the lead, on their way to an historical win... Pero Antic led the way for F.Y.R. of Macedonia with 19 points. or the winning side with 19 points and six rebounds and Jeremiah Massey added 15 with six rebounds. Tal Burstein was the leader of Israel with 25 points, Yotam Halperin added 20, ten of them in the first quarter and Lior Eliyahu finished with 12.

Germany 76 Russia 73 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Jan Jagla collected 19 points and 11 rebounds and 20-year-old Robin Benzing nailed a three-pointer with 48 seconds left as Germany knocked off defending champions Russia 76-73 for their first victory in the EuroBasket 2009 Qualifying Round Group B... Kelly McCarty and Anton Ponkrashov each scored 12 points for Russia while Bykov had 11 points and Sergy Monya added 10 points in a losing effort.

Slovenia 80 Serbia 69 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Slovenia used a three-point barrage to take a 13-3 lead and never looked back as they cruised past Serbia 80-69 in EuroBasket Group C. Jaka Lakovic buried two three-pointers and Bostjan Nachbar knocked the other one - despite being defended closely - to set the tone as Slovenia took their first double-digit lead just three minutes into the game... "This is a great result for us as it means we are pretty much assured of advancing to the next round" said Nachbar, who finished with a game-high 17 points and proved to the hero, hitting big buckets time and time again to end Serbia's several rally attempts.

Poland 86 Lithuania 75 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Poland rode their incredible home-court advantage to another victory at the EuroBasket on Tuesday in Wroclaw. Taking on a determined Lithuania, the Poles got strong performances from Maciej Lampe and Michal Ignerski to prevail 86-75... "We played our best game yet since we have been together as a team," said Lampe, who had 14 of his game-high 22 points in the second half... Simas Jasaitis led the Baltic nation in scoring with 21 points on nine of 11 (82%) shooting from the floor. Poland finished an impresive 27 of 45 (60%) from two-point range.

Greece 76 Croatia 68 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: The fate of Group A played in Poznan is set after Greece beat Croatia 76-68 in a one-sided game despite the final result. Following today's results Israel is eliminated and will finish last, while Greece secured the first spot and will carry two wins to the Qualifying Round, putting them in a great position. The two teams will meet tomorrow in a game that can't influence their fate... Bourousis finished with 19 points and eight rebounds followed by Vasilis Spanoulis with 11 points and two youngsters with ten each - Kostas Koufos and Efstratios Perperoglou. Croatia saw 15 points by Roko-Leni Ukic and 13 by Vujcic.

France 60 Latvia 51 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Tony Parker once again took over the proceedings and carried France to a 60-51 victory over Latvia, scoring 21 of his 23 points after intermission in helping France overcome a 10-point third quarter deficit and book their spot in the Qualifying Round of EuroBasket 2009. The other French starters combined for 15 points while Ali Traore came off the bench for 12 points for Vincent Collet's team, which held Latvia to just 33 percent shooting for the game and survived scoring just three points in the second quarter... Latvia dropped to 0-2 in Group B despite 18 points and seven rebounds from Kaspers Kambala and six points and 20 rebounds by Andris Biedrins. And Kristaps Janicenoks chipped in 12 points in a losing effort.

Spain 84 Great Britain 76 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Great Britain threw a major scare into Spain on Tuesday night at the EuroBasket in Poland but ran out of steam in the final minutes and lost 84-76. One of the dominant sides in international basketball for the past decade and winners of the FIBA World Championship three years ago, the Spanish lost their opening game to Serbia on Monday and then put themselves in danger of an early exit from the competition after blowing a 16-point third-quarter lead against the Brits... Hart was a revelation. He led Britain with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Lenzly scored 14 and Nate Reinking 10. Great Britain finished 10 of 22 from three-point range, including seven of 15 in the second half... Pau Gasol only made 11 of 18 at the stripe but still finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds (both game highs), and his go-ahead three-pointer was arguably his team's biggest shot because Spain never trailed again. Fernandez had 13 points, Victor Claver 12 and Navarro 10.

Turkey 94 Bulgaria 66 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Turkey destroyed Bulgaria 94-66 to secure their spot in the Qualifying Round of EuroBasket on the second day of games in Group D in Wroclaw. Ender Arslan had a game-high 17 points for the victors on five of seven (71%) shooting from three-point range. He was one of five Turkish players to finish in double figures... The naturalized Bulgarian from the United States, Earl Rowland again led his team in scoring with 15 points. Turkey were 32 of 59 (54%) from the floor while Bulgaria finished 24 of 61 (39%).

September 9

Croatia 81 Macedonia 71 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: After two and a half games Croatia, the medal contender, the big force, the talented deep group is finally here with an 81-71 win over F.Y.R. of Macedonia in Group A in Poznan. The win allows Croatia to advance to the Qualifying Round with a win in their pocket after finishing the current group with a 2-1 record... No less than nine Croatian players scored between seven and 12 points led once again by Nikola Vujcic. Marko Banic added 11 while Planinic had nine points second half points without a miss and seven assists.

France 69 Russia 64 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: The NBA trio of Tony Parker, Boris Diaw and Ronny Turiaf were too much as France remained perfect at EuroBasket 2009, beating defending champions Russia 69-64 to take top honors in Group B. The three stars combined for 54 points with Diaw leading the way with 19 points and Turiaf collecting 18 points and 14 rebounds for the 3-0 French, who out-rebounded Russia 39-23 including 15 offensive rebounds... Russia, who dropped to 1-2, were led by 13 points from Kelly McCarty. Nikita Kurbanov came off the bench to score 12 points and Vitalii Fridzon added 11 points.

Spain 90 Slovenia 84 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Spain had to work overtime in order to edge out Slovenia 90-84 and finish with a 2-1 mark in EuroBasket Group C. The Spaniards handed Slovenia their first defeat of the tournament and, in the process, secured their place in the Qualifying Round... The fourth quarter looked like a mere formality when Fernandez's lay-up made it 64-51. But Dragic turned it around for Slovenia. The guard, who finished with 19 points and six steals, proved a constant headache for Spain, stepping into the passing lane to snatch the ball away and then sprinting down court for several fastbreak lay-ups as part of a 12-0 run that got the Slovenians within one, 64-63... Juan Carlos Navarro was the main reason for Spain staying on top as he drew foul after foul and hit nine of 10 free-throws in the fourth quarter alone.

Turkey 87 Poland 69 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Turkey stunned tournament hosts Poland 87-69 to finish top of Group D in Wroclaw. Omar Asik poured in a game-high 22 points to fire Turkey to the Qualifying Round in Lodtz with a perfect record (3-0). Turkey also got big contributions from Ersan Ilyasova (18pts) and Hedo Turkoglu (10). There was little the Poles could do to avoid their first defeat of the tournament with Bogdan Tanjevic's side shooting an impressive 26 of 36 (72%) from inside the arc and out-rebounding their opponents 39-26... Marcin Gortat led Poland in scoring with 21 points.

Greece 106 Israel 80 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Greece remained perfect at the end of the Preliminary Round in Group A at Poznan after a 106-80 win over Israel in the last day of the championship. The game had no influence on the final standings whatsoever and as a result Coach Jonas Kazlauskas chose to rest Ioannis Bouroursis towards the Qualifying Round where Greece will carry two wins in a great pole position for the Quarter-Finals... Spanoulis led five Greek players in double-digits with 18 points and five assists. Antonios Fotsis and Sofoklis Schortsanitis added 16 each, Ioannis Kalampokis added 12 and Knostantinos Kaimakoglou had ten. Israel saw 21 points and eight rebounds by Lior Eliyahu and 15 by Raviv Limonad.

Latvia 68 Germany 62 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Jan Jagla hit a three-pointer and two foul shots in the final 14 seconds as Germany staged a miracle comeback to advance to the EuroBasket 2009 Qualifying Round despite a 68-62 loss against Latvia... Demond Greene led all scorers with 16 points as he hit four three-pointers and helped keep Germany within reach. Jagla finished the game with 13 points and seven rebounds... Kaspars Kambala scored 11 points while Andris Biedrins had 10 points and nine rebounds and Skele and Kristaps Valters both tallied 10 points. All told, Latvia made just 19 of 38 foul shots.

Serbia 77 Great Britain 59 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Serbia clinched the final spot on offer for the Qualifying Round of the EuroBasket from Group C with a clinical 77-59 win over Great Britain. Nenad Kirstic and Milenko Tepic each poured in 17 points for the Blues, with Nate Reinking scoring a game-high 21 in defeat for Britain... Britain hurt their own cause by missing eight of their 16 free-throws and shot only 42% (18 of 43) inside the arc. Serbia out-rebounded Britain 37-28

Lithuania 84 Bulgaria 69 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Lithuania remained alive at the 2009 EuroBasket with an 84-69 victory over Bulgaria, advancing to the Qualifying Round in Lodz and sending their rivals home. Ramunas Butautas' men pulled away midway through the final quarter to claim their first victory in Wroclaw... Lithuania forward Ksistof Lavrinovic led his team in scoring with 16 points while dishing out four assists. Marijonas Petravicius poured in 13 while Simas Jasaitis added 11 for the victors. The naturalised Bulgarian from the United States Earl Rowland had a game-high 18 points in defeat.

September 10

No games

September 11

Russia 62 Croatia 59 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Vitalii Fridzon made four free throws in the final 13 seconds as reigning champions Russia remained in the hunt for the EuroBasket 2009 quarter-finals with a 62-59 victory over Croatia. Russia used a full team effort to improve to 1-2 in the Qualifying Round with five players scoring at least eight points, led by Timofey Mozgov's 18 points and eight rebounds. Russia as a team shot 65 percent from two-point range to make up for their struggles from long range (4 of 19 - 21 percent)... Mario Kasun led the way for Croatia with 13 points while Zoran Planinic had 12 points and Marko Banic added 11 points... Croatia shot just 34 percent for the game and could not take advantage of grabbing 15 offensive rebounds.

Greece 84 Germany 76 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Greece booked their place in Katowice with a hard fought 84-76 victory over Germany on the first day of Qualifying Round action in Bydgosszcz. The win lifts Greece to a 3-0 record in the group, while Germany fell to 1-2... Vasilis Spanoulis scored 20 points on 66% shooting including the three-pointer that secured the Greek win, in addition to seven assists and four rebounds. Sofoklis Schortsanitis added 14 points while Antonios Fotsis and Nikos Zisis added 12 each. Heiko Schaffartzik led the losing side with 23 points, 15 of them in the second half, and Benzing added 16.

France 83 Macedonia 57 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: France booked their spot in the quarter-finals with an overwhelming 83-57 victory over the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia to remain perfect at EuroBasket 2009. Florent Pietrus and Nando de Colo led five scorers in double figures for Vincent Collet's team with 14 points each while Tony Parker, Ali Traore and Nicolas Batum all added 13 points. The French improved to 3-0 in the Qualifying Round Group E and join Greece into the final eight, which start on 17 September in Katowice... F.Y.R. of Macedonia slumped to 0-3 in the group despite nine points each from Jeremiah Massey and Darko Sokolov while Predrag Samardziski had seven points and eight rebounds for Jovica Arsic's team, whose team shot just 35 percent for the game... France started the game on a 17-3 run, setting the tone for the rest of the game... France shot 61 percent for the game and held F.Y.R.O.M. to just 35 percent.

September 12

Turkey 63 Spain 60 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Turkey used some strong inside play to hold off Spain 63-60 and remain unbeaten (3-0) in Group F of the EuroBasket 2009 Qualifying Round in Lodz. Centers Asik Omer and Semih Erden combined for 25 points and 10 rebounds as the hosts of next year's World Championships edged ever closer to clinching their place in the last eight. Meanwhile, Spain dropped to 1-2... Turkey were up 36-34 at the break but fell behind early in the third quarter as Spain used a 9-3 run to jump in front 43-37. Juan Carlos Navarro scored his first five points of the game and the Gasol brothers combined well, Marc feeding Pau for an easy two before Rudy Fernandez came off a screen for a sweeping lay-up with 6:54 left in the period.

Serbia 77 Poland 72 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Serbia opened up a 16-point lead but then had to hold on for dear life and prevailed 77-72 over tournament hosts Poland in the second game of Saturday's Qualifying Round Group F in Lodz. Duzan Ivkovic's Blues went on top 56-40 midway through the third quarter but never-say-die Poland cut the deficit to 64-62 with 5:24 to go with a spirited effort from their bench... "This is big win for us," said Serbia's Uros Tripkovic, who finished with 12 points... Krstic was immense. He poured in a game-high 18 points, pulled down eight rebounds and swatted two shots to pace the Serbians. Milos Teodosic contributed 13 points, including seven in the final quarter. Marcin Gortat and Koszarek had 16 points apiece for Poland.

Slovenia 81 Lithuania 58 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Slovenia eased their way past Lithuania 81-58 in Group F of the EuroBasket 2009 Qualifying Round in Lodz. Jaka Lakovic erupted for a game-high 24 points as Jure Zdovc's side improved to 2-1 while the Lithuanians dropped to 0-3 and must now beat both Spain and Serbia in their remaining games to stand a chance of reaching the last eight. Lakovic had the hot hand on the night, connecting on six of nine three-point attempts and had his total tally all wrapped up by the end of the third quarter, to help his team go up 62-39 heading into the final frame... Slovenia will also be encouraged by the performance of Uros Slokar, playing his first significant amount of minutes in the tournament after recovering from injuries. The center finished with 11 points and four rebounds in 19 minutes of play, allowing for Primoz Brezec to get some rest.

September 13

Macedonia 86 Germany 75 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: A big second half run enabled F.Y.R. of Macedonia to write their first win in the Qualifying Round 86-75 over Germany on the second day of action in Group E in Bydgoszcz. F.Y.R.O.M. now stand on a 1-3 record, tied with Germany, as both teams still hold a chance to make it to the Quarter-Finals... "He's probably the best player in his age right now in Europe," said Germany's Coach Dirk Bauermann on Vrbica Stefanov who led F.Y.R.O.M. to the big win. The veteran point guard scored 25 points on 73% shooting from the field and added five steals, which are the second best individual highs in the tournament thus far. Jeremiah Massey added 16 while Pero Antic and Dime Tasovski had 13 each... Lucca Staiger had 14 points for Germany, including four downtown arrows, Patrick Femerling added 13, Tim Ohlbrecht added 13 with two blocks and Demond Greene scored ten.

Russia 68 Greece 65 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Kelly McCarty and Sergey Monya combined for 33 points as reigning champions Russia took a giant step towards the EuroBasket 2009 quarter-finals by holding off Greece 68-65 in the Qualifying Round Group E. Monya nailed three big three-pointers and 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and it proved enough as David Blatt's Russians improved to 2-2 in the group while Greece dropped their first game of the tournament to fall to 3-1... McCarty scored a game-high 17 points while also grabbing nine rebounds and not committing a turnover in 38 minutes of action. Timofey Mozgov added 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks... Greece were led by 13 points from Sofoklis Schortsanitis while Vasileios Spanoulis and Ioannis Bourousis both had 12 points and Antonios Fotsis chipped in 10 points in a losing effort.

France 87 Croatia 79 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: After the second day of games in Group E in Bydgoszcz there's only one team perfect and that is France following an 87-79 victory over Croatia. The French climbed to a 4-0 record, but still must beat Greece on the last day to secure the top spot... Tony Parker led his team with 24 points, six assists and six rebounds but spread them in a perfect way... Nicholas Batum followed behind with 18 points, half of them from distance, five boards and two blocks. Boris Diaw added 15 behind four long distance balls in addition to six assists and four rebounds. Florent Pietrus added 14. Croatia enjoyed 30 points by Popovic - the second best scoring performance in the competition so far - who spread his points almost equally between the first and the second halves.

September 14

Spain 84 Lithuania 70 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Spain recovered from a slow start to cruise past Lithuania 84-70 in Group F of the EuroBasket 2009 Qualifying Round. The win saw the world champions improve to 2-2 and boosted their chances of reaching the last eight of the competition. Meanwhile, Lithuania dropped to 0-4 and are assured of missing out on the Quarter-Final stages for the first time since 2001... And Scariola praised star player Pau Gasol for his performance, as he finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and three blocks... The Spaniards were helped by the fact that Lithuania, playing without the injured Simas Jasaitis, lost their shooting touch altogether... Lithuania had 21 fouls and 19 turnovers and were just six of 23 from three-point range... InsideHoops.com notes: For Lithuania, Marijonas Petravicius had 13 points and 8 rebounds. Ricky Rubio had 9 assists for Spain.

Slovenia 76 Poland 60 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Slovenia broke open a close game in the third quarter and stormed to a 76-60 triumph over Poland to clinch a spot in the EuroBasket Quarter-Finals on Monday night in Lodz. Erazem Lorbek scored a game-high 20 points and also pulled down nine rebounds for the winners, who prevailed for the fourth time in five games at this year's event... Matjaz Smodis, the captain of the national team, has also been unable to compete because of a back injury and star guard Goran Dragic also missed the Poland game with a knee injury... David Logan and Szymon Szewczyk had 15 points apiece for Poland... InsideHoops.com notes: Jaka Lakovic dished 6 assits for Slovenia. Marcin Gortat had 10 rebounds for Poland.

Turkey 69 Serbia 64 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Turkey needed overtime but defeated Serbia 69-64 on Monday night to remain undefeated at the EuroBasket and hand the Blues just their second loss in the tournament. Ersan Ilyasova poured in 22 points and had 11 rebounds for Turkey, who overcame a woeful night at the free-throw line (18 of 31, 58%) and a one-of-16 (6%) shooting effort from the floor by Hedo Turkoglu. Defense has been winning games for Bogdan Tanjevic's team and so it proved again as they forced their opponents to turn the ball over 18 times... Teodosic had 16 points, eight assists and six rebounds for Serbia, who also got 12 points, including 11 in the second half, and seven boards from Novica Velickovic. Krstic, who didn't start and came off the bench at the beginning of the second quarter, finished with 11 points and seven boards. Omer Asik had 11 points but was not very good at the free-throw line, missing 10 of his 11 attempts.

September 15

Russia 71 Macedonia 69 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Defending champions Russia are returning to the Quarter-Finals for the ninth consecutive time after beating F.Y.R. of Macedonia 71-69 in Qualifying Round Group E action for a spot in the final eight in Katowice. Timofey Mozgov collected 25 points and 11 rebounds while Anton Ponkrashov had 10 points, six rebounds and seven assists and Andrey Vorontsevich chipped in 10 points off the bench for Russia, who improved to 3-2 in the group... F.Y.R.O.M. had a valiant effort, paced by 19 points and 10 rebounds from Pero Antic and 16 points each from Vrbica Stefanov and Todor Gechevski. But Jovica Arsic's team will exit the tournament with a 1-4 record in the Qualifying Round group.

France 71 Greece 69 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Nando De Colo's turn around buzzer-beater bestowed upon France the top spot in Group E in Bydgoszcz behind a 71-69 victory over Greece. This is the second game in the group today to be decided in the last second and in the exact same score after Russia beat F.Y.R.O.M. 71-69 as well. France take a 5-0 record in the Qualifying Round to win first place in the group and will enter the Quarter-Finals with big energy... Tony Parker played only 21 minutes, Diaw 19 and Turiaf 15... Alain Koffi scored 14 points, all of them in the first half, but showed his defensive presence throughout the entire game... Vasilis Spanoulis scored 16 points including one of the biggest buckets of the championship, while Sofoklis Schortsanitis added 12.

Croatia 70 Germany 68 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Roko-Leni Ukic scored 18 points as Croatia earned the last Quarter-Final berth from the Qualifying Round Group E by holding off Germany 70-68. The Croatians had four players in double figures and took advantage of Germany making 20 turnovers - including six straight turnovers in the fourth quarter - as they secured fourth place in the group with a 2-3 record... Croatia also received 11 points each from Marko Popovic and Zoran Planinic while Sandro Nicevic added 10 points. Germany bow out of the tournament despite another spirited fight from Dirk Bauermann's young team. Heiko Schaffartzik led the way with 18 points - on perfect 6 of 6 shooting - while Patrick Femerling scored 15 points and Jan Jagla had 11 points.

September 16

Serbia 89 Lithuania 79 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Lithuania put up a huge fight but it wasn't enough to beat Milos Teodosic and Serbia who won their Qualifying Round Group F clash in Lodz, 89-79. The result sealed third place for Dusan Ivkovic's men and set up a Quarter-Final showdown with Russia in Katowice... Serbia guard Milos Teodosic nailed two of those crucial three-pointers and led his team in scoring with 20 points while also handing out 12 assists... Jonas Maciulis led the Baltic nation in scoring with 20 while Ksistof Lavrinovic contributed with 12 and made four of his team's 10 steals. Having made just two of nine (22%) shooting from three-point range at the break, Lithuania finished a respectable six of 18 (33%).

Spain 90 Poland 68 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Spain crushed hosts Poland 90-68 to book their place in the last eight of EuroBasket 2009. The win saw Sergio Scariolo's side improve to 3-2 to finish fourth in Group F of the Qualifying Round. Up next for them is a clash with unbeaten France (5-0) in the quarter-finals on Thursday. Juan Carlos Navarro had a game-high 23 points, hitting on eight of 11 field goal attempts - including seven of nine from three-point range - while Pau Gasol added 20 to go along with five rebounds, three assists and three blocks... The Spaniards were red hot from three-point range, connecting on seven of 14 attempts over the first two quarters. Alex Mumbru hitting two from the top of the key minutes apart before Navarro buried consecutive ones for a 38-22 advantage.

Slovenia 69 Turkey 67 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Slovenia ended Turkey's unbeaten run at the EuroBasket with a thrilling 69-67 triumph on Wednesday night at the Arena Lodz to clinch first place in Group F. The win has thrown the Slovenians into a Quarter-Final clash with Croatia while Turkey now must face Greece with both games to be played on Friday... Slovenia out-rebounded Turkey 35-32. Ilyasova and Nachbar each finished with 16 points to lead all scorers. Turkey hurt their own cause by making only 14 of their 21 free-throws while Slovenia were six of 11. Slovenia prevailed over Turkey despite being without three injured players.

September 17

Serbia 79 Russia 68 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Two years after bowing out in the first round in Spain, the youngest team at EuroBasket 2009 Serbia booked the first berth in the semi-finals by dethroning the defending champions Russia 79-68 in the first quarter-final. Serbia used a 17-0 second quarter run to take control of the game and never looked back with Uros Tripkovic leading five Serbs in double figures with 18 points. Kosta Perovic scored a personal tournament-high 13 points for Serbia off the bench. Novica Velickovic also had 13 points while Milos Teodosic collected 12 points and four assists and Nenad Krstic chipped in 10 points... Russia lost despite 15 points from Vitalii Fridzon but David Blatt's men could not overcome the 17-0 surge. Sergey Monya scored 12 points and Timofey Mozgov had 10 points.

Spain 86 France 66 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Spain got off to a quick start and never looked back as they crushed France 86-66 to book their place in the semi-finals of EuroBasket 2009 in Katowice. Pau Gasol had a stellar performance, going for 28 points, nine rebounds and three blocks - all game highs - as the world champions handed the French their first defeat of the tournament... The Spaniards were also doing an excellent job defensively forcing France into turning the ball over six times and putting the shackles on Tony Parker, who was held to a tournament-low of six points, 12 below his average... Ronny Turiaf was France's only player to score in double-digits with 12 points.

September 18

Greece 76 Turkey 74 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Greece edged Turkey in a EuroBasket Quarter-Final thriller on Friday night. Needing a victory to secure a place in next year's FIBA World Championship in Turkey, Jonas Kazlauskas' team required overtime but won 76-74 to set up a Semi-Final showdown with Spain on Saturday. Endar Arslan's lay-up at the end of regulation forced the extra period for Turkey, but the point guard, after Nikos Zisis made one of two to give Greece a two-point lead, missed from long range at the buzzer in the extra period... "We never stopped believing that we could win this game," said Spanoulis, who had a game-high 23 points and buried six of his team's 10 three pointers... Spanoulis made six of nine shots from behind the arc and Fotsis had a game-high 13 boards to go with his 11 points... Turkoglu and Anan led Turkey with 13 points apiece. Turkey were six of 13 (46%) from the free-throw line while Greece finished 26 of 34 (74%). Greece out-rebounded Turkey 47-28, 17 coming from the offensive glass.

Slovenia 67 Croatia 65 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Slovenia came back from a 15-point deficit late in the first half and beat Croatia 67-65 to reach the EuroBasket Semi-Finals for the first time in their history and clinch a spot at the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Erazem Lorbek turned in another MVP performance for the winners by scoring 27 points, pulling down eight rebounds and coming up with three steals... Croatia's players won't sleep well after this game... Trailing 47-39 at half-time, Slovenia returned to the floor and held Croatia to just three points in the third quarter to claim a 53-50 lead and they stayed on top the rest of the way although the game was close to the end. They had appeared to be on course for victory in the first half when an electric Roko-Leni Ukic scored 16 of his 21 points.

September 19

France 80 Turkey 68 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: France came back from a 19 point first-half deficit to beat Turkey 80-68 and clinch their place in next year's World Championship in the first 5th-8th place game in Katowice. Tony Parker had game-highs of 28 points and 10 assists as he bounced back from a sub-par performance against Spain to lead the way for Les Bleus... Trailing 43-32 at the break, France went on a 21-9 run to edge in front 53-52 on Parker's banked shot with 4:05 left in the third quarter. That gave them their first lead since the opening minutes of the game... It all came down to turnovers. France had eight in the opening quarter as they fell behind 26-12 and four more in the second period for a 43-32 deficit at the half. Turkey, who turned the ball over just three times in the first two quarters, gave it away eight times in the pivotal third quarter. The Turks finished with 16 turnovers, one more than France.

Croatia 76 Russia 69 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Roko-Leni Ukic scored 18 points and dished out eight assists to lead Croatia to a 76-69 victory over Russia in the 5th and 8th place games and help secure his nation a berth at the 2010 World Championship - their first appearance since 1994 in Toronto. Ukic nailed a big three-pointer with a minute to play to give Croatia an insurmountable advantage, coming back from a 10-point deficit in the first half. Marin Rozic came off the bench for 14 points and three steals while Mario Kasun scored 12 points in 13 minutes of action... Sergey Monya tallied 18 points but no other player scored in double figures for David Blatt's team. Kelly McCarty and Timofey Mozgov both hit for nine points in the loss... The gap was again 10 points at 45-35. Croatia held Russia without a basket for the next 5:24 in using an 18-2 run to grab a 53-47 advantage.

Spain 82 Greece 64 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: One finalist is already set at EuroBasket 2009 after Spain dominated Greece 82-64 in a one sided Semi-Final on Saturday in Katowice. This is the first time in history the Spanish team reach the finals twice in a row, and it bestows on them a chance, once again, to bring the first ever European gold medal to Spain... the first quarter. He enjoyed the help of Rudy Fernandez with 14... Greece saw big guy Ioannis Bourousis collect 11 points and seven rebounds, though he only shot 33% from the field. Young Nick Calathes added ten points off the bench. Nikos Zisis and Vasilis Spanoulis were limited under the big pressure of the Spanish guards and combined only 13 points.

Serbia 96 Slovenia 92 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Milos Teodosic exploded for 32 points as Serbia edged Slovenia 96-92 in overtime on Saturday night to reach the EuroBasket Final. Dusan Ivkovic's men will take on Spain in Sunday's gold-medal game, a team they beat in their Group C Preliminary Round opener in Warsaw. Teodosic, whose three-pointer knotted the contest at 79-79 late in regulation to force the extra period, then poured in eight of his game-high in points in the final five minutes to guide his team to victory. He finished 10 of 13 (77%) from the charity stripe and six of 10 from behind the arc... Lorbek fouling out with 4:29 to go in the fourth quarter was a blow for Slovenia. In addition to his scoring, he had pulled down 10 rebounds and come up with three steals. "When my brother fouled out that really hurt our play," said Slovenia's Domen Lorbek, who finished with 22 points.

September 20

France 69 Croatia 62 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: France held off Croatia for a 69-62 win to take fifth place at EuroBasket 2009 in Katowice on Sunday. Antoine Diot scored 18 points and Nando de Colo added 15 as the French used a 9-0 run in the first quarter to break a 9-9 score and they did not relinquish the lead the rest of the way. Davor Kus had 18 points for Croatia, who made several runs but could never edge in front as France made key baskets to put an end to their spurts... Tony Parker, Boris Diaw (sprained ankle) and Florent Pietrus did not play for France, while Roko-Leni Ukic (groin injury), Zoran Planinic and Mario Stojic sat out for Croatia.

Russia 89 Turkey 66 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Russia rebounded from their disappointing loss in the final qualifier for the 2010 FIBA World Championship to knock off Turkey 89-66 to claim seventh place at EuroBasket 2009. Vitalii Fridzon buried seven three-pointers in scoring 26 points and leading five Russians in double figures in Russia's final game as 2007 reigning champions. Anton Ponkrashov had 16 points, nine assists and four rebounds. Aleksey Zozulin also each had 16 points, Nikita Kurbanov added 13 while Sergey Monya chipped in 11 points in helping Russia shoot 16 of 24 from long range... Turkey finished eighth with four straight losses to close the tournament despite 24 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks by Omer Asik. Semich Erden added nine points in a losing effort.

Greece 57 Slovenia 56 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: 60 years after winning their first, and last, bronze medal the Greek team will take the podium tonight in the third position after edging Slovenia 57-56 in the bronze medal game on Sunday in Katowice. This is the second time Greece will go home with a medal in the last four years after winning the gold at EuroBasket 2005... Jaka Lakovic, in a big fourth quarter, brought his team within touching distance, but never more. He scored a team high of 16 points, 13 of them coming in the last quarter... Erazem Lorbek was struggling as well with 12 points on 28% from the field. One of the main reasons was Sofoklis Schortsanitis who was everywhere on court today with 23 points, on 78% accuracy, six rebounds, two blocks and 12 drawn fouls.

Spain 85 Serbia 63 -- Eurobasket2009.org reports: Spain tore apart Serbia 85-63 to capture their first-ever EuroBasket gold medal in Katowice, Poland on Sunday night. World champions in 2006, silver-medal winners at EuroBasket 2007 in Madrid and runners-up to Team USA at last year's Olympics, the Spanish underlined their status as the dominant side on the continent... Pau Gasol, who won an NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers in June, finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds and also blocked three shots - all game-highs... A Novica Velickovic jump shot closed the gap to 24-16 at the start of the second quarter and, after Marc Gasol tapped in Felipe Reyes' miss for Spain, Ivan Paunic and Velickovic each split a pair of free-throws to make it 26-18. However, that proved to be as close as Ivkovic's team would get...


FINAL 2009 EUROBASKET STAT LEADERS
Includes games of Sept. 20
Players only count if they played in at least half the possible games any team could have played

POINTS PER GAME (PPG):
1. Gasol, P. ESP 18.7
2. Parker, T. FRA 17.8
3. Lorbek, E. SLO 16.4
4. Ilyasova, E. TUR 16.1
5. Logan, D. POL 15.5
6. Gortat, M. POL 14.3
7. Teodosic, M. SRB 14.1
8. Spanoulis, V. GRE 14.1
9. Lakovic, J. SLO 14.0
10. Ukic, R. CRO 13.6
11. Fernandez, R. ESP 13.6
12. Krstic, N. SRB 13.4
13. Navarro, J. ESP 13.2
14. Petravicius, M. LTU 12.8
15. Asik, Ö. TUR 12.8

REBOUNDS PER GAME (RPG):
1. Gortat, M. POL 10.8
2. Gasol, P. ESP 8.3
3. Lorbek, E. SLO 7.4
4. Ilyasova, E. TUR 7.3
5. Bourousis, I. GRE 7.3
6. Antic, P. MKD 6.7
7. Asik, Ö. TUR 6.3
8. Jagla, J. GER 6.3
9. Fotsis, A. GRE 6.1
10. Lampe, M. POL 6.0
11. Gasol, M. ESP 5.7
12. Turiaf, R. FRA 5.7
13. Mc Carty, K. RUS 5.5
14. Reyes, F. ESP 5.3
15. Bjelica, N. SRB 5.1

ASSISTS PER GAME (APG):
1. Teodosic, M. SRB 5.2
2. Ponkrashov, A. RUS 4.9
3. Logan, D. POL 4.5
4. Parker, T. FRA 4.4
5. Koszarek, L. POL 4.3
6. Spanoulis, V. GRE 4.2
7. Rubio, R. ESP 3.9
8. Hamann, S. GER 3.8
9. Schaffartzik, H. GER 3.8
10. Lakovic, J. SLO 3.8
11. Diaw, B. FRA 3.8
12. Ukic, R. CRO 3.8
13. Tunçeri, K. TUR 3.7
14. Planinic, Z. CRO 3.6
15. Bykov, S. RUS 3.2

BLOCKS PER GAME (BPG):
1. Gasol, P. ESP 2.2
2. Gortat, M. POL 2.0
3. Gasol, M. ESP 1.3
4. Mozgov, T. RUS 1.3
5. Ilyasova, E. TUR 1.3
6. Lampe, M. POL 1.2
7. Turiaf, R. FRA 1.1
8. Batum, N. FRA 1.0
9. Monya, S. RUS 1.0
10. Femerling, P. GER 1.0

STEALS PER GAME (SPG):
1. Fernandez, R. ESP 2.1
2. Parker, T. FRA 1.8
3. Lavrinovic, K. LTU 1.7
4. Mc Carty, K. RUS 1.6
5. Calathes, N. GRE 1.6
6. Monya, S. RUS 1.6
7. Ukic, R. CRO 1.5
8. Stefanov, V. MKD 1.5
9. Lorbek, E. SLO 1.4
10. Spanoulis, V. GRE 1.4
11. Velickovic, N. SRB 1.4
12. Rubio, R. ESP 1.4
13. Sokolov, D. MKD 1.4




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Eurobasket 2007
The 2007 Eurobasket tournament, which is the European basketball championship, began September 3 in various Spain locations through September 5, and then on September 7 moved to Madrid, playing there until a champion was crowned on September 16. And InsideHoops.com praises Russia, who beat Spain 60-59 to win the 2007 Eurobasket Gold medal. Spain takes away Silver. And Lithuania beat defending champion Greece 78-69 to take Bronze, with Greece finishing 4th. Brief recaps of every single game, plus final stat leaders and more, is below.

2007 EUROBASKET GAMES RESULTS/RECAPS


September 16

Slovenia 88, France 74 -- Fiba reports: Slovenia drained seven three-pointers during a 24-6 run to start the fourth quarter in knocking off France 88-74 to clinch seventh place at the 2007 EuroBasket as well as a berth in next summer's pre-Olympic tournament. Jaka Lakovic hit three long bombs in the big stretch on his way to 26 points, six rebounds and seven assists... Uros Slokar struck twice from long distance and converted a three-pointer in the spurt as part of his 13-point showing and Radoslav Nesterovic added 19 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots... France star Tony Parker scored a game-high 31 points and did all he could to keep the French in the game late, scoring his team's first 10 points of the fourth period... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Slovenia, Jaka Lakovic had 26 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Radoslav Nesterovic had 19 points and 8 rebounds. Uros Slokar had 13 points. Matjaz Smodis had 13 points and 3 assists. For France, Tony Parker had 31 points and 4 assists. Ronny Turiaf had 13 points and 8 rebounds. Joseph Gomis had 10 points, 3 assists and 2 steals. Boris Diaw went scoreless with 4 rebounds.

Germany 80, Croatia 71 -- Fiba reports: Croatia tried to ride the wave of their good performance last night, and led for almost 30 minutes, but once Germany took over the game went in one direction. Dirk Nowitzki made sure to leave EuroBasket 2007 with a sweet taste. After several human performances he once again stepped up finishing the game with 31 points on 59% from the field and 12 rebounds, in addition to four assists. Marko Banic showed his best game today for Croatia with 16 points and only two missed shots, but that wasn't enough to surrender the Germans who forced 18 turnovers on the Croatian side... Marko Popovic gave Croatia their first double-digit lead of the day early in the second quarter, and an unsportsmanlike foul by Herber halfway through the quarter didn't help Germany... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Germany, Dirk Nowitzki had 31 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists. Jan-Hendrik Jagla had 11 points and 4 rebounds. Demond Greene had 10 points and 3 rebounds. Robert Garrett had 3 points and 4 assists. For Croatia, Marko Banic had 16 points and 3 rebounds. Marko Popovic had 14 points and 2 steals. Davor Kus had 10 points. Mario Kasun had 6 rebounds. Zoran Planinic had 7 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.

Bronze/4th Place Game: Lithuania 78, Greece 69 -- Fiba reports: Ramunas Siskauskas continued his great form from the last games and downed a couple of three-pointers in crunch time to secure the win. This time he was joined by Ksistof Lavrinovic and Linas Kleiza who shot very well both inside and outside the arc, to make sure Greece will stay behind for the vast majority of the game... Greece, once again, had only one player with a good shooting night, and this time it was Nikos Zisis. He dropped in 23 points on 58% shooting from the field, but the total of the team was poor... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Lithuania, Ksistof Lavrinovic had 19 points on almost perfect shooting, and 3 rebounds. Linas Kleiza had 13 points and 8 rebounds. Ramunas Siskauskas had 13 points and 5 assists. Sarunas Jasikevicius had 11 points and 5 assists. For Greece, Nikolaos Zisis had 23 points. Dimosthenis Ntikoudis had 10 points and 4 rebounds. No one else on Greece scored in double digits. Dimitrios Diamantidis had 7 rebounds and 4 assists.

Gold/Silver Game: Russia 60, Spain 59 - Fiba reports: J.R. Holden's jumper with 2.1 seconds left secured Russia their first-ever EuroBasket title with a thrilling 60-59 victory over reigning world champions and hosts Spain. Pau Gasol had a chance to win the game at the buzzer but his mid-range jumpshot went in and out, leaving Spain to collect their sixth European silver medal... Andrei Kirilenko collected Most Valuable Player honours for the tournament after collecting 17 points, five rebounds, two assists, one blocked shot and a steal with 59 seconds remaining. That swipe led to a basket by Nikita Morgunov to pull Russia to within 59-58 with 43 seconds to play... Spain eventually pulled away on Pau Gasol's inside basket for a 59-54 lead but Gasol missed the chance for a three-point play and Kirilenko came back down to hit two foul shots with 1:17 left to set up the last minute heroics... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Russia, Andrei Kirilenko had 17 points and 5 rebounds. Aleksey Savrasenko had 10 points. J.R. Holden had 8 points. Anton Ponkrashov had 8 points and 3 rebounds. Victor Khryapa had 7 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. For Spain, Jose Calderon had 15 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Pau Gasol had 14 points on bad shooting, 14 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks, with 5 turnovers. Jorge Garbajosa had 8 points and 6 rebounds.


September 15

Classification Round 5th to 8th place:

Croatia 86, France 69 -- Fiba reports: Marko Popovic scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half as a balanced Croatia booked their spot in next summer's pre-Olympic qualifying tournament by beating France 86-69 in the 5th-8th classification round of EuroBasket 2007... Zoran Planinic also scored 15 points while Nikola Prkacin had 14 points and Marko Banic and Stanko Barac each scored 12 points for the winners, who shot 56% from the field for the game. France were led by Tony Parker's 18 points and Boris Diaw collected 11 points, five rebounds and five assists. But they shot only 41% from the field and forced Croatia into only nine turnovers... The French got as close as nine points with three minutes left. But Croatia went on a 6-0 run to re-establish a 15-point lead - 79-64 - and put the game to rest... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Croatia, Marko Popovic had 15 points on five three-pointers. Zoran Planinic had 15 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Nikola Prkácin had 14 points. Marko Banic had 12 points and 4 rebounds. Stanko Barac had 12 points and 7 rebounds. For France, Tony Parker had 18 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Boris Diaw had 11 points and 5 assists. Florent Pietrus had 10 points. Tariq Kirksay had 9 points and 6 rebounds.

Germany 69, Slovenia 65 -- Fiba reports: Germany deleted a 60-51 Slovenian lead in the last 5:16 behind an 18-5 run led by Dirk Nowitzki who made 10 of his team's last 12 points and finished the game with 28 points and 10 rebounds... Slovenia missed open shots early in the fourth, and waited more than three and a half minutes before scoring their first fourth quarter points... Germany once again stepped up their defense and with three hits from long range by Demond Greene, Ademole Okulaja and Nowitzki tied the game at 62-62 with 1:56 on the clock... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Germany, Dirk Nowitzki had 28 points and 10 rebounds. Demond Greene had 16 points. Ademola Okulaja had 7 points and 8 rebounds. Steffen Hamann had 6 points and 4 assists. For Slovenia, Jaka Lakovic had 17 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. Matjaz Smodis had 16 points and 4 rebounds. Radoslav Nesterovic had 13 points and 9 rebounds.

Semi-Finals:

Spain 82, Greece 77 -- Fiba reports: A new EuroBasket champion will be crowned in Madrid after reigning world title-holders and hosts Spain dethroned Greece 82-77 in the semi-finals of the 2007 EuroBasket thanks to sterling performances by the Spanish trio of Juan Carlos Navarro, Pau Gasol and Jose Manuel Calderon... The trio combined for 64 points and Calderon's three-pointer and break-away lay-up started and finished a crucial 9-1 run which turned a 67-65 Greece lead into a 74-68 advantage for the Iberians, who advanced to their sixth European final while still waiting for their first continental crown... After proving the hero in Greece's miracle comeback against Slovenia, Theo Papaloukas struggled again with just three points, two rebounds and two assists... Tempers flared at the end of the third period on a final driving lay-up by Navarro, which the refs ruled was not a foul... Zisis's three-pointer with 19 seconds brought Greece to within 78-76, but Garbajosa and Navarro sandwiched two foul shots around a Papaloukas turnover for an 82-76 scoreline... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Spain, Pau Gasol had 23 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. Juan Carlos Navarro had 23 points and 4 rebounds. Jose Calderon had 18 points, 3 assists and 2 steals. Jorge Garbajosa had 6 points and 4 assists. For Greece, Vasileios Spanoulis had 24 points and 5 assists. Panagiotis Vasilopoulos had 10 points. No one else on Greece scored in double digits. Dimitrios Diamantidis had 9 rebounds.

Russia 86, Lithuania 74 -- Fiba reports: Russia shocked favorites Lithuania on Saturday night in the Palacio de Deportes as David Blatt led a brilliant group who took control of the game from the tip and never trailed, but on top of it showed great character... Andrei Kirilenko, in an amazing individual performance of 29 points and eight rebounds, carried his team to a big win, and didn't allow anybody to take this win from his team... Ramunas Siskauskas was the only one who stepped up for Lithuania. He scored 30 points, including five shots from long range, which cut into Russia's lead time after time, but couldn't secure the win alone... Russia took advantage of that to jump out to an 18-3 lead... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Russia, Andrei Kirilenko had 29 points and 8 rebounds. Victor Khryapa had 4 assists. For Lithuania, Ramunas Siskauskas had 30 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals. Rimantas Kaukenas had 12 points.Simas Jasaitis had 9 points and 5 rebounds. Darius Songaila had 8 points and 6 rebounds.

September 14

Lithuania 74, Croatia 72 -- Fiba reports: Zoran Planinic missed two foul shots with 1.02 seconds remaining, allowing Lithuania to hold off a motivated Croatia 74-72 and book their spot in Saturday's semi-finals against Russia. Darius Songalia scored 20 points, grabbed seven rebounds and gave Lithuania the winning basket with 46 seconds left. Linas Kleiza collected 19 points and nine rebounds and Sarunas Jasikevicius dished out eight assists as Lithuania remained the only perfect team in the competition... Croatia, who will play France in the 5th-8th classification games, shot themselves in the foot, making just eight of 19 foul shots (42%) while holding Lithuania to 40% shooting (23-of-58) for the game... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Lithuania, Darius Songaila had 20 points and 7 rebounds. Linas Kleiza had 19 points and 9 rebounds. R.Kaukenas had 8 points. Sarunas Jasikevicius had 6 points, 3 rebounds and 8 assists, though also 5 turnovers. For Croatia, Zoran Planinic had 16 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 7 steals. M.Popovic had 12 points. M.tomas had 10 points. Stanko Barac had 6 points and 6 rebounds.

Greece 63, Slovenia 62 -- Fiba reports: Theo Papaloukas's driving lay-up with 6.7 seconds remaining completed a furious 14-1 flurry to the finish as Greece overcame a 12-point deficit in the final 2:30 to knock off Slovenia 63-62 and live on for another chance to defend their EuroBasket title. Papaloukas added yet another chapter to his superstar and legendary status with 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, setting up another showdown with world champions and hosts Spain in Saturday's semi-finals... Lazaros Papadopoulos added 10 points for the reigning champs, who forced Slovenia into four turnovers and two missed three-pointers in the final 2:30. Jaka Lakovic had 14 points, five rebounds and three assists but his potential game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer fell well short of its target... Domen Lorbek stepped up for his team but missed a three-pointer with 16 seconds remaining to give Greece a final chance to finish the run and Papaloukas proved once again why he's widely considered the best player in Europe, cutting into the heart of the Slovenian defense for the winner... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Greece, Theodoros Papaloukas had 17 points. Lazaros Papadopoulos had 10 points and 3 rebounds. No other Greece players scored in double figures. Dimitrios Diamantidis had 6 rebounds and 3 assists, plus 2 steals. For Slovenia, Radoslav Nesterovic had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Jaka Lakovic had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Matjaz Smodis had 10 points, 3 assists but 5 turnovers. Domen Lorbek and Goran Dragic each had 3 assists.

September 13

Russia 75, France 71 -- Fiba reports: Russia made more of their free-throw attempts down the stretch than France did and that proved the difference as David Blatt’s men won 75-71 to reach their first EuroBasket semi-final in 10 years. With the game tied at 69-69, J.R. Holden hit both his shots from the line to edge his team ahead 71-69 with 24 seconds left to play. Nine seconds later, France’s Boris Diaw – who once had an 0 for 11 performance from the foul line against Slovenia in this event two years ago – blew his chance to tie the score when he missed both attempts from the charity stripe... Les Bleus were an abysmal nine of 20 from the free-throw line (45%) while Russia were only marginally better hitting nine of their 17 attempts (53%). Khryapa had a team-high 16 points for Russia with Holden adding 15 and Morgunov chipping in with 14 off the bench. Diaw had a game-high 17 points and Parker was France’s only other player to score in double figures with 15 points... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: Victor Khryapa had 16 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Boris Diaw had 17 points. Ronny Turiaf grabbed 7 rebounds. Tony Parker had 3 assists.

Spain 83, Germany 55 -- Fiba reports: Rudy Fernandez and Juan Carlos Navarro both added 12 points for the superb Spain attack, shooting 57% and the Spanish defense held Dirk Nowitzki to 11 points and the German offense to 33% shooting in their quarter-final showdown in Madrid's Palacio de Deportes... Navarro, however, answered with back-to-back three-pointers and Calderon scored nine of Spain's final 14 points in the half as they went on a 9-0 run to lead 40-27 at the break. Spain already led 52-36 midway through the third period but used a 12-2 spurt to blow the game open for good with a 64-38 cushion... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: Jose Calderon had 17 points. Carlos Jimenez, Pau Gasol and Marc Gasol each had 5 rebounds. For Germany, Dirk Nowitzki had just 11 points, Jan-Hendrik Jagla had 7 rebounds, and Steffen Hamann dished 6 assists.

September 12

Germany 67, Italy 58 -- Fiba reports: Italy held Dirk Nowitzki in check but couldn't have expected Johannes Herber to score 10 of his 15 points in the third quarter and lead Germany to a 67-58 victory as the 2005 silver medallists advanced to the 2007 EuroBasket quarter-finals. Nowitzki had just 15 points - well under his average of 26 points - and 10 rebounds, but Germany received plenty of support from their bench players, who tallied 29 points... Jan Jagla came on to collect five points and 10 rebounds while Steffen Hamann had 10 points... Germany's lead was back down to 54-52 when Herber came up big again with his third long bomb of the night for a 57-52 advantage. Italy tried to come back in the final minute but Nowitzki hit two foul shots with 33 seconds left and Pascall Roller drained four free throws in the final 16 seconds... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Germany, Dirk Nowitzki had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists on bad shooting. Johannes Herber had 15 points and 6 rebounds. Jan-Hendrik Jagla had 10 rebounds. For Italy, Marco Belinelli had 25 points. Andrea Bargnani had 10 points and 6 rebounds. Denis Marconato and Angelo Gigli each had 6 rebounds. And Massimo Bulleri dished 3 assists. Both teams shot badly from two and three-point range.

France 85, Turkey 64 -- Fiba reports: Boris Diaw broke out of a recent slump to record a tournament high 18 points as France (3-2) beat Turkey (0-5) 85-64 in their final game of the qualifying round... The game was close for the better part of the first two quarters before France used an 8-0 run in the closing minutes of the first half to take a 43-35 lead at the break. Little used back-up center Pape Badiane scored five of his 12 points in the spurt as Les Bleus went ahead 36-35 and never relinquished the lead... France extended their lead to 56-46 by the end of the third quarter and Diaw scored 10 of his team-high 18 points to end Turkey’s hopes of a late comeback, despite a three-point barrage by team captain Ibrahim Kutluay and some fine play down low by Kaya Peker... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For France, Boris Diaw had 18 points and 5 rebounds, but no assists and some turnovers. T.Kirksay had 15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. P.Badlane had 12 points and 5 rebounds. Y.Diawara had 10 points. Frederic Weis had 6 points and 6 rebounds. For Turkey, Kaya Peker had 19 points and 4 rebounds. No one else on Turkey scored double-digit points. Hedo Turkoglu had 9 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Mehmet Okur had just 5 points and 6 rebounds. Ender Arslan had 4 assists.

Lithuania 80, Slovenia 61 -- Slovenia was unable to withstand great outside shooting from Lithuania, who nailed 11-of-20 from three-point range. The game was close in the first half with Lithuania jumping to a 26-18 lead after the first quarter but Slovenia answering in the second. But in the third quarter Lithuania scored 19 while holding Slovenia to a mere 8 points, and the game was over after that. For the winners, Ramunas Siskauskas had 21 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Darius Songaila had 17 points and 4 rebounds. K.Lavrinovic had 14 points and 4 rebounds. Linas Kleiza had 7 rebounds. Rimantas Kaukenas had 4 assists. For Slovenia, Jaka Lakovic had 15 points and 3 assists. M.Smodis had 11 points. Radoslav Nesterovic had a mere 4 points with 5 rebounds.

September 11

Russia 83, Croatia 70 -- Fiba reports: Russia used a 15-4 run in a six-minute span late on to turn a close game into a route, as they beat Croatia 83-70. David Blatt’s men played from behind for the better part of the first two and a half quarters but, once they edged ahead 55-54 lead on a lay up by reserve Nikolai Padius with 1:13 left in the third period, they never relinquished their lead, outscoring their opponents 28-16 the rest of the way... The game was close for the first three quarters with neither team leading by more than eight points. But Russia used a 15-4 spurt spanning the end of the third quarter and the first five minutes of the final period to turn their 58-56 advantage into a comfortable 73-60 lead... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Russia, Andrei Kirilenko had 20 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block. Z.Pashutin had 14 points and 3 assists. N.Morgunov had 10 points. J.Holden had 8 points and 4 assists, plus 2 steals. A.Savrasenko also scored 8. For Croatia, D.Kus had 17 points. M.Rozic had 11 points and 4 rebounds. M.Banic had 9 points. Z.Plananic only scored 4 points but had 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

Greece 85, Portugal 67 -- Fiba reports: European champions Greece went on a decisive run at the start of the second quarter en route to an 85-67 win against Portugal on Tuesday at the EuroBasket. Portugal led 17-15 with two minutes to go in the first quarter but Greece hit them with a 16-2 run over the next seven minutes to take command... Despite trailing 45-34 at half-time, Portugal never gave up and cut the deficit to 45-37 early in the third quarter but the Greeks replied with a 6-0 run to stamp their authority on the contest... Greece were superior shooting the ball. They were 29 of 48 (60%) from the floor while their opponents were 21 of 58 (36%)... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Greece, Dimosthenis Ntikoudis had 17 points and 9 rebounds on great shooting. D.Diamantidis had 13 points and 3 rebounds. V.Spanoulis had 10 points and 3 assists. L. Papadopoulos had 9 points and 4 rebounds. And Theodoros Papaloukas had 8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. For Portugal, Joao Santos had 17 points. P.Cunha had 10 points and 5 rebounds. Filipe da Silva dished 5 assists with his 6 points.

Spain 99, Israel 73 -- Fiba reports: Pau Gasol put on an MVP showing with 26 points and seven rebounds in just 18 minutes as world champions Spain overcame a motivated Israel 99-73 to clinch first place in Group E of the 2007 EuroBasket. Spain scored the first 19 points of the fourth quarter to blow the game wide open in front of the home fans in Madrid... Jose Calderon scored all 15 of his points in the first half and Alex Mumbru and Jorge Garbajosa both tallied 12 points as the tournament hosts improved to 4-1 and passed Russia atop the group... Lior Eliyahu, Meir Tapiro and Matan Naor each scored 15 points in a losing cause and combined for 12 rebounds, 11 assists and five steals. Yaniv Green collected nine points and 10 rebounds... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: Meir Tapiro also dished 7 assists for Israel.

September 10

Italy 84, Turkey 75 -- Fiba reports: Hedo Turkoglu poured in a game-high 34 points for Turkey but it wasn't enough to upset Marco Belinelli and Italy on Monday. Belinelli scored all 17 of his points after half-time as the Italians won 84-75 in overtime. Turkey had a chance to win at the end of regulation but Ibrahim Kutluay missed a wide-open attempt from the left corner to leave the game tied at 70-70... Engin Atsur hit a three-pointer to put the Turks into a 73-72 lead but Italy responded with a 9-3 run to take control for good... Turkoglu was a hero even in defeat with one of the finest performances of the EuroBasket, making five of eight shots from the arc and pulling down six rebounds and dishing out four assists... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Italy, Angelo Gigli had 17 points and 10 rebounds plus 3 blocks. Marco Belinelli had 17 points and 4 assists. Massimo Bulleri also dished 4 assists. Andrea Bargnani had 12 points and 6 rebounds. For Turkey, Mehmet Okur had 10 points and 9 rebounds.

Lithuania 88, France 73 - Fiba reports: The 2003 EuroBasket champions led by as many as 20 points at one point in the first half and recovered from a slow start in the third quarter to send France (2-2) to their second loss of the qualifying round, putting their chances of reaching the quarter-finals in the balance... Ramunas Siskauskas, who turned 29, finished with a game-high 19 points and was glad to have a good performance on the day. Lithuania used a 17-2 spurt in the first 4:30 of the second quarter to turn a 20-19 deficit into a 36-20 advantage... The game started as a very gritty affair as the teams combined for 15 fouls and 22 free-throw attempts in the first quarter... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Lithuania, Ramunas Siskauskas had 19 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Darius Songaila had 17 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals. Sarunas Jasikevicius had 14 points and 7 assists. For France, Florent Pietrus had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. Boris Diaw had 6 points and 7 rebounds. Tony Parker had just 11 points with his 6 assists.

Slovenia 77, Germany 47 - Fiba reports: Matjaz Smodis led three players in double figure scoring with 22 points as Slovenia remained undefeated at the 2007 EuroBasket with a 77-47 thrashing of Germany to set up their top-of-Group F clash with Lithuania - a showdown of the final two perfect teams in Madrid. Radoslav Nesterovic tallied 13 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots and Jaka Lakovic collected 12 points and five assists for the winners, who improved to 4-0... Dirk Nowitzki scored 16 points and had eight rebounds to lead Germany, who shot just 28% (17-of-60) for the game. Ademola Okulaja was the next best scorer for Germany with five points... Germany couldn't get anything going offensively in the first quarter but still trailed only 13-7 when Slovenia went on a 17-2 surge to pull away by 21 points after one period, 30-9... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Slovenia, Matjaz Smodis had 22 points and 5 rebounds. Rasho Nesterovic had 13 points and 7 rebounds. J.Lakovic had 12 points and 5 assists. Uros Skolar had 9 points. For Germany, Nowitzki had 16 points and 8 rebounds on bad shooting. J.Jagla had 7 points and 3 steals. A.okulaja had 8 rebounds. No one on Germany had more than 1 assist.

September 9

Portugal 94, Israel 85 -- Fiba reports: "All the things I was afraid about happened today. we started the game very bad, and didnt succeed in doing the things we like to do," said Israel's coach, Zvika Sherf. "Portugal dominated the boards as they do in every game against us." he refered to the 45-25 difference under the boards... Portugal got a boost from Mario-Gil Fernandes and Joao Santos who made big shots from behind the arc and recovered their double-digit lead, going into the locker room up 46-34... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Portugal, Joao Gomes had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Filipe da Silva dished 9 assists. And F.Jordao scored 20. For Israel, Lior Eliyahu had 29 points and 9 rebounds, while Meir Tapiro had 6 assists. And Y.Halperin scored 19.

Greece 81, Croatia 78 -- Fiba reports: Vasileios Spanoulis sank a buzzer-beating three-pointer to beat Croatia 81-78, earning Greece their first win of the qualifying round to hugely improve their chances of advancing to the quarter-finals of EuroBasket 2007... Croatia’s Marko Popovic sank a pair of free-throws to tie the game at 78-78 with seven seconds left in the game but Spanoulis knew he had won the game once the ball left his hands... Croatia’s 50-37 lead with just under six minutes left in the third period turned into a four-point deficit, 61-57, early in the final frame as Greece used a 24-7 spurt to regain a lead they lost early in the second quarter... Diamantidis finished with 23 points and Papadopoulos added 22 while Spanoulis chipped in with 14 - none more important than the last three. Kasun led five players in double-figures for Croatia with 15 points... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: Mario Kasun also had a Croatia-leading 6 rebounds. Marko Popovic dished 4 assists in the loss. In the win, Lazaros Papadopoulos and Dimitrios Diamantidis each grabbed 6 rebounds. Greece had 7 steals, Croatia just 2.

Spain 81, Russia 69 -- Fiba reports: With 2:25 to go in the third Carlos Cabezas connected a three-pointer to set the score on 57-47 for Spain. That came after more than 90 seconds with no points on both ends. His shot came after Russia missed two chances to narrow the gap down from seven, and set the difference on double-digits. A true spirit breaker, and Russia never threatened Spain again... Jose Calderon was the heart of the Spanish machine tonight, in a game that showed how intimidating this team can be. Not only did he finish as the top scorer of his team with 17 point he also helped his team-mates get easy shots with four assists and most impressive of all closed the night with zero turnovers against one of the best, intense and most aggressive defenses here... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: For Russia, Andrei Kirilenko had 21 points and 4 rebounds but just 1 assist with 4 turnovers. Viktor Khryapa scored 14 and grabbed 11 boards. For Spain, Jose Calderon had 17 points and 4 assists, Juan Carlos Navarro had 15 points and Pau Gasol had 13 points with 9 rebounds.

September 8

France 78, Germany 66 - Fiba reports: France’s “supporting cast” came through in tremendous fashion to help the team boost their chances of making it to the quarter-finals after a 78-66 win over Germany today. Tony Parker finished with a team-high 23 points but it was the play of his team-mates Florent Pietrus and Tariq Kirksay that helped put Les Bleus in a good position in Group F. Parker was on the bench for the early part of the second quarter when Claude Bergeaud’s men used a 15-2 run to turn a 28-28 tie into a 43-30 lead thanks to the play of Pietrus and Kirksay... Pietrus and Kirksay finished with 12 points each with the former going a perfect four for four from the field, including two for two from downtown. Turiaf added 11 points and Diaw chipped in seven points and 10 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki had a game-high 28 points - on 12 for 26 shooting from the field for Germany and Okulaja added 14 points and nine rebounds.

EUROBASKET FINAL RESULTS Gold: Russia Silver: Spain Bronze: Lithuania 4th: Greece 5th: Germany 6th: Croatia 7th: Slovenia 8th: France

EUROBASKET QUALIFYING ROUND STANDINGS GROUP E 1. Spain 4-1 2. Russia 4-1 3. Greece 3-2 4. Croatia 2-3 5. Portugal 1-4 6. Israel 1-4 GROUP F 1. Lithuania 5-0 2. Slovenia 4-1 3. France 3-2 4. Germany 2-3 5. Italy 1-4 6. Turkey 0-5

FINAL PRELIMINARY STANDINGS GROUP A 1. Russia 3/0 2. Greece 2/1 3. Israel 1/2 4. Serbia 0/3 GROUP B 1. Croatia 2/1 2. Spain 2/1 3. Portugal 1/2 4. Latvia 1/2 GROUP C 1. Lithuania 3/0 2. Germany 2/1 3. Turkey 1/2 4. Czech Republic 0/3 GROUP D 1. Slovenia 3/0 2. France 2/1 3. Italy 1/2 4. Poland 0/3

Lithuania 79, Italy 74 -- Fiba reports: Rimantas Kaukenas led Lithuania by pouring in 22 points, including a three-pointer with 3:12 remaining to spark a 9-2 run to finish off the game. Sarunas Jasikevicius was hampered with a left groin injury for much of the second half but tallied 13 points, three rebounds, four assists and two steals in 28 minutes... Italy, who were out-rebounded 44-29 and made only 23% (6-of-26) of their three-point shots, now have a real fight on their hands to qualify for the quarter-finals... Andrea Bargnani collected 15 points and seven rebounds while Gianluca Basile had 13 points and four rebounds in a losing cause... InsideHoops.com note: Linas Kleiza grabbed 9 rebounds for Lithuania.

Slovenia 66, Turkey 51 -- Fiba reports: A balanced attack led Slovenia to a 66-51 victory over Turkey in Group F of the 2007 EuroBasket and helped the Slovenians remain undefeated at 3-0 in Spain. Uros Slokar provided a huge spark off the bench with 12 points in 19 minutes as Slovenia went on a 21-1 surge spanning the third and fourth quarters for a comfortable victory. Radoslav Nesterovic led Slovenia with 13 points while Goran Dragic added 11 points, four rebounds and three assists and Jaka Lakovic chipped in five points, seven rebounds and three assists... The Turks dropped to 0-3 in the group despite 17 points from Hidayet Turkoglu and 14 from Mehmet Okur. But Bogdan Tanjevic's side made just four-of-25 three-pointers (16%) and nine-of-16 foul shots... InsideHoops.com notes: Kerem Gönlüm had 9 rebounds for Turkey. Goran Jagodnik grabbed 8 rebounds for Slovenia.

September 7

Russia 78, Portugal 66 -- Fiba reports: It took a while for Andrei Kirilenko and Russia to heat up, but once they did there was no way Portugal could stop them in the first game of Friday's qualifying round in Madrid. Kirilenko had a game-high 16 points, pulled down four rebounds and dished out three assists as the Russians progressed to the quarter finals... Trailing 52-41 midway through the third quarter, Russia went on a 10-0 run, with JR Holden scoring five points in that surge, to take command... InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: Victor Khryapa grabbed 11 rebounds for Russia. The leading scorer for Portugal was Jorge Coelho with just 11 points.

Israel 80, Croatia 75 -- Fiba reports: Amit Tamir – who did not play in the first half – was the hero of the day for Israel as he hit three three-pointers, all at the right time. The 2.10m center made his first shot attempt, from beyond the arc, to tie the game up at 48 a piece with 2:41 left in the third quarter. And, just over a minute later, he struck again from downtown to give his team their first lead of the second half, 53-50. Croatia though fought back thanks in large part to the play of Marko Popovic and Mario Kasun... Meir Tapiro, who finished the game with 11 points, seven assists and four rebounds, admitted that the win was made even more special because of the quality of the opposition... Yaniv Green had a double-double of 17 points and 16 rebounds to lead the way for Israel. Kasun had 18 points and seven rebounds for Croatia while Ukic chipped in with 10... InsideHoops.com stat notes: Meir Tapiro dished 7 assists for Israel. Damir Markota grabbed 7 rebounds for Croatia while Davor Kus had 4 assists.

Spain 76, Greece 58 -- Rudy Fernandez had 20 points for Spain in a no-contest, easy win. Felipe Reyes grabbed 8 rebounds and Pau Gasol had 5 assists in the win. For Greece, the leading scorer, Ioannis Bourousis, had a mere 10 points while Konstantinos Tsartsaris and Ioannis Bourousis each had 5 rebounds. Theodoros Papaloukas dished 5 assists.

Sept 6

No games

Sept 5

Israel 87, Serbia 83 -- Fiba reports: Both teams fought to survive and while at first it seemed Serbia had the upper hand, Israel showed great character and took over the game in the second half... When the second half gong sounded Israel stormed out with bigger intensity. Their defense was much more aggressive and slowly the difference got smaller and smaller... Israel, who shot 88% from the line tonight, connected on seven of their last eight free throws in the last 21 seconds to secure the win, and send Serbia 60 years back... InsideHoops.com stat notes: Yaniv Green had 26 points and 12 rebounds for Israel. Milan Gurovic scored 19 for Serbia. Darko Milicic had 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Lithuania 84, Germany 80 -- Fiba reports: Lithuania nearly gave up a 21-point third quarter lead but held on just enough to beat Germany 84-80 and finish Group C of the 2007 EuroBasket undefeated at 3-0 going into the qualifying round. Rimantas Kaukenas made two foul shots with 2.6 seconds left to secure the win while Sarunas Jasikevicius led the way with 15 points, 10 assists and four rebounds. Darjus Lavrinovic had 18 points while Ramunas Siskausas chipped in 13 for the winners... Germany were led by Nowitzki's 28 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots. Okulaja had 12 points and seven rebounds while Robert Garrett chipped in 10 points.

Portugal 77, Latvia 67 -- Fiba reports: Needing to win by 15 plus points, the Portuguese stunned their opponents with a remarkable three-point shooting exhibition (nine of 18, 50%) and actually led 61-44 with 9:02 remaining in the game after a Paulo Cunha three-ball... Portugal set the tone early, opening up an 11-3 lead after a Francisco Jordao jump shot in the lane. He would end up with 11 points and seven rebounds... Kristaps Janicenoks had 21 points for Latvia. Andris Biedrins grabbed 18 rebounds.

Slovenia 67, France 66 -- Fiba reports: With Slovenia leading 67-65 with 0.1 seconds left to play, France had a chance to take the game to overtime but Tony Parker only made one of two attempts from the charity stripe to give their opponents their third straight win. With Jaka Lakovic heavily marked by Les Bleus, Slovenian guard Domen Lorbek came up strong for his team on the night. Lorbek sank the crucial free-throws to give his team the lead for good with 12 second left on the clock. The 22-year-old finished with 15 points and was a pefect five for five from the field and four of five from the charity stripe... Parker did finish with a game-high 25 points while Ronny Turiaf added 15.

Russia 61, Greece 53 -- Fiba reports: Russia won Group A with a perfect record, and will carry two wins to the next round in Madrid, while Greece lost their first game in EuroBasket since 2003, and will have to work harder to qualify to the quarter-finals... Andrei Kirilenko, who grabbed 17 boards tonight, collected seven of them in that stretch... InsideHoops.com stat notes: Jon Robert Holden scored 17 for Russia.

Turkey 80, Czech Republic 72 -- Fiba reports: NBA stars Mehmet Okur and Hidayet Turkoglu and captain Ibrahim Kutluay combined for 55 points as Turkey remained alive at the 2007 EuroBasket with an 80-72 victory over the Czech Republic, advancing to the qualifying round in Madrid and sending the Czechs home... Okur had a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, Turkoglu poured in 22 points and Kutluay added 17 as the Turks collected their first victory in Group C after suffering blowouts of 17 and 30 points to Lithuania and Germany, respectively... The Czechs, who lost their third straight contest, were led by 22 points from Lubos Barton and Petr Benda added 14 points in a losing effort. Jiri Welsch was clearly tired from the first two games and struggled mightly, scoring just five points on two for 11 shooting.

Croatia 85, Spain 84 -- Fiba reports: Marko Tomas buried a three-pointer with 3.1 seconds remaining as Croatia stunned Spain 85-84 to finish top of Group B in Seville. The win, achieved in Seville’s San Pablo Pavilion, gained partial revenge for the Croatians who were knocked out of EuroBasket 2005 by Spain in the quarter-finals... Pau Gasol, who had a game-high 26 points to lead Spain, missed and Croatia darted to the other end where Kus made a lay-up... InsideHoops.com stat notes: For Croatia, Marko Popovic had 18 points. Marko Banic had 9 rebounds. And Marko Tomas dished 4 assists. For Spain, Gasol scored 26, Felipe Reyes grabbed 10 rebounds and José Calderón dished 3 assists.

Italy 79, Poland 70 -- Fiba reports: Guard Marco Belinelli had a game-high 20 points for the winning side while forward Andrea Bargnani added 19 points - 16 of which came in the first half... The winners were superior in shooting the ball from long range as they hit 12 of 21(57%) attempts while their opponents were only six for 22 (27%). Italy made 17 of 21 from the free-throw line (81%) while Poland made 6 of 12 (50%). Poland were out-rebounded 34 to 26... InsideHoops.com stat notes: For Poland, Andrzej Pluta scored 15, Filip Dylewicz had 7 rebounds and Lucasz Koszarek dished 11 assists. For Italy, Marco Belinelli scored 20, Andrea Bargnani had 7 rebounds and Massimo Bulleri had 8 assists.

Sept 4

Russia 90, Israel 56 - Fiba.com reports: Russia secured their spot in the next round of EuroBasket 2007 with an easier than expected 90-56 win over Israel on the second day of games in Group A in Granada... Andrei Kirilenko, for the second night in a row, turned in a big performance with 17 points and 13 rebounds, turning in 10 boards, five assists and two blocks in the first half alone... Lior Eliyahu tried to save some of Israel's pride and managed to collect 17 points, but Russia kept hammering and finished the game with a 34 point win.

Lithuania 95, Czech Republic 75 -- Fiba.com reports: The 2003 champions led by 25 points midway through the third quarter only to see the Czechs go on a 13-0 run to come back within 12. But Ksistof Lavrinovic, Linas Kleiza and Simas Jasaitis each drained a pair of three-pointers in the fourth quarter, allowing Lithuania to stave off any Czech hopes of a comeback... Ksistof Lavrinovic led the way with 22 points, while Kleiza added 14, Darjus Lavrinovic had 12 and Jasikevicius chipped in with 10 points and four assists... Welsch finished with a game-high 18 points while Barton added 13 points. Petr Benda chipped in 14 points in a losing cause.

Croatia 90, Portugal 68 -- Fiba.com reports: Croatia pulled away from a pesky Portugal with a decisive run that started before half-time and ultimately prevailed 90-68... Valentyn Melnychuk’s men looked like a different team with Joao Gomes pouring in 13 points in the first quarter... Joao Gomes was four of six (67%) from the floor when he scored those 13 points for Portugal in the first eight minutes of the game, but did not play for the remainder of the first half. He ended up with 17 points

France 69, Italy 62 -- Fiba.com reports: Tony Parker poured in a game-high 36 points to give unbeaten France (2-0) a 69-62 triumph over Italy (0-2) With the score at 60-60 with three minutes remaining, Les Bleus went on a 9-0 run, with Parker scoring four points in that game-winning surge. He finished 12 of 22 (55%) from the field, grabbed three rebounds and dished out two assists... Andrea Bargnani, who led Italy in scoring with 16 points, put his terrible start to EuroBasket 2007 quickly behind him... France outrebounded Italy 40-31.

Greece 68, Serbia 67 -- Fiba.com reports: The official score-sheet say that Greece won 68-67 in overtime and got the ticket for the next round taking on a 2-0 record in Group A at Granada, while Serbia dropped to 0-2 and must beat Israel tomorrow to stay in the competition... Jaric, who finished as the top scorer for Serbia with 18 points, made it a one point game with nine seconds to play in regulation, but when Serbia tried to foul Dikoudis managed to find an empty spot on court and got the ball open in front of the basket.

Germany 79, Turkey 49 -- Fiba.com reports: Dirk Nowitzki collected 24 points, six rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot while Ademola Okulaja was just one rebound from a second straight double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds as Germany looked much more confident than a night earlier... Turkoglu was Turkey's only player to score in double figures with 15 points as Germany held their opponents to 30% shooting (17-of-56) for the game.

Spain 93, Latvia 77 -- Fiba.com reports: Pau Gasol finished with a game-high 26 points on eight of 11 (73%) shooting, while Fernandez had 18. He was five of nine (56%) from the floor, including three of six from the arc.’” For Latvia, Biedrins scored 17 points on eight of 15 (53%) shooting and also grabbed five rebounds.

Slovenia 70, Poland 52 -- Fiba.com reports: Slovenian center Erazem Lorbek had a game-high 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds while team-mate Jaka Lakovic chipped in with 15 points... Slovenia stepped up their defense and outscored their opponents 21-7 to take a 34-26 advantage at the break... Dylewicz finished with nine points and nine rebounds while team-mate Andrzej Pluta led the Poles in scoring with 12 points. Poland were out-rebounded 46 to 28.

Sept. 3

Russia 73, Serbia 65 -- FIBA.com reports: Andrei Kirilenko finished the game with 24 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and drew seven fouls, but every play he made was in the best timing to keep his team on the winning side... Darko Milicic was shutdown by a great defensive team effort by Russia, and was representative of Serbia's poor shooting, connecting on just two of his 13 shots. Box score.

Germany 83, Czech Republic 78 -- FIBA.com reports: Dirk Nowitzki collected 35 points and 11 rebounds and Mithat Demirel added 18 points off the bench as Germany held off the Czech Republic 83-78 in overtime in their Group C opener in Palma de Mallorca... Ademola Okulaja did contribute a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds... Jiri Welsch paced the more-balanced Czechs with 22 points while Lubos Barton had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Houska had 12 points.

Latvia 85, Croatia 77 -- FIBA.com reports: Latvia upset Croatia 85-77 tonight in Seville to get off to a flying start at EuroBasket 2007. Armands Skele led five players in double-figures with 17 points but captain Aigars Vitols, who only had eight, made his baskets when it mattered most for the Baltic side... Latvia were incredible shooting the ball from three-point range, making 11 of 18 attempts for a sizzling 61%..

France 74, Poland 66 -- Fiba.com reports: Polish veteran Adam Wojcik had a game-high 19 points in the loss and shot eight of 10 from the floor (80%)... Tony Parker led France in scoring with 16 points but had a tough day shooting the ball, going five of 16 from the field (31%). He had nine points at the break and Boris Diaw chipped in with eight while Polish veteran Adam Wojcick was keeping his team in the game with 11.

Greece 76, Israel 66 -- For Greece, Vasileios Spanoulis shot 6 of 8 from two-point range and 2 of 4 from three-point range to lead Greece with 19 points. Dimosthenis Ntikoudis and Konstantinos Tsartsaris each scored 15. For Israel, Yotam Halperin had 20 points on good shooting with 6 assists. But he didn't receive a lot of help. Jeron Roberts had 13 points, Yaniv Green added 11 points and 7 rebounds. Israel shot very well from two-point range. But Greece went nuts from outside, nailing 10 of 23 three-pointers for the win.

Lithuania 86, Turkey 69 -- Fiba.com reports: Lithuania made Sarunas Jasikevicius's return to the National Team a special one as the 2003 EuroBasket champions cruised past Turkey 86-69 to grab an opening day victory in Group C. Jasikevicius, widely regarded as one of Europe's best players, fought off a knee injury to collect 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in a dominating Lithuania win. Rimantas Kaukenas added 14 points while Linas Kleiza and Darius Songalia each had 12 points, and Ramunas Siskauskas added 10... Turkey, who were led by 18 points from Hidayet Turkoglu and 17 from Ibrahim Kutluay, led 10-5 in the early stages.

Spain 82, Portugal 56 -- This was a breeze for Spain. Pau Gasol barely missed, scoring 19 points. His teammates provided a balanced effort and although Spain was a miserable 3 of 18 from three-point range they nailed 68.3% of their two-point attempts. No Portugal players reached double digits in scoring. Slovenia 69, Italy 68 -- Fiba.com reports: Slovenian guard Jaka Lakovic scored 13 points and made the winning shot... Slovenia were superior shooting the ball from three-point range, they were five of 17 (29%) while Italy were four of 22 (19%)... InsideHoops.com stat report: For Slovenia, Matjaz Smodis scored 19 points. For Italy, Massimo Bulleri had 20 points with 5 assists. And Matteo Soragna only needed 8 field goal attempts to get 16 points.



2007 EUROBASKET PLAYER STAT LEADERS

Final leaders. Includes Sept 16.

POINTS PER GAME (PPG)
1.	Nowitzki, D. 	GER	24.0
2.	Parker, T. 	FRA	20.1
3.	Türkoglu, H. 	TUR	19.2
4.	Gasol, P. 	ESP	18.8
5.	Kirilenko, A. 	RUS	18.0
6.	Belinelli, M. 	ITA	15.5
7.	Halperin, Y. 	ISR	14.0
8.	Siskauskas, R. 	LTU	13.8
9.	Smodis, M. 	SLO	13.4
10.	Popovic, M. 	CRO	13.1
11.	Lakovic, J. 	SLO	12.9
12.	Bargnani, A. 	ITA	12.7
13.	Calderón, J. 	ESP	12.3
14.	Nesterovic, R. 	SLO	11.9
15.	Green, Y. 	ISR	11.8
16.	Spanoulis, V. 	GRE	11.7
17.	Holden, J. 	RUS	11.6
18.	Navarro, J. 	ESP	11.4
19.	Khryapa, V. 	RUS	11.2
20.	Songaila, D. 	LTU	11.2
21.	Bulleri, M. 	ITA	11.2
22.	Santos, J. 	POR	11.2


REBOUNDS PER GAME (RPG)
1.	Green, Y. 	ISR	9.3
2.	Nowitzki, D. 	GER	8.7
3.	Kirilenko, A. 	RUS	8.6
4.	Khryapa, V. 	RUS	7.8
5.	Okur, M. 	TUR	7.7
6.	Nesterovic, R. 	SLO	7.6
7.	Gasol, P. 	ESP	7.0
8.	Okulaja, A. 	GER	6.9
9.	Gigli, A. 	ITA	6.0
10.	Reyes, F. 	ESP	5.9
11.	Diaw, B. 	FRA	5.8
12.	Kasun, M. 	CRO	5.5
13.	Kleiza, L. 	LTU	5.3
14.	Evora, E. 	POR	5.2
15.	Türkoglu, H. 	TUR	5.2
16.	Diamantidis, D. GRE	5.0
17.	Ntikoudis, D. 	GRE	5.0
18.	Bargnani, A. 	ITA	5.0
19.	Jagla, J. 	GER	4.9
20.	Jagodnik, G. 	SLO	4.8
21.	Songaila, D. 	LTU	4.8


ASSISTS PER GAME (APG)
1.	Jasikevicius, S.LTU	5.6
2.	Tapiro, M. 	ISR	5.0
3.	Lakovic, J. 	SLO	4.3
4.	Bulleri, M. 	ITA	4.0
5.	Khryapa, V. 	RUS	3.2
6.	da Silva, F. 	POR	3.2
7.	Halperin, Y. 	ISR	2.8
8.	Parker, T. 	FRA	2.8
9.	Planinic, Z. 	CRO	2.8
10.	Calderón, J. 	ESP	2.6
11.	Siskauskas, R. 	LTU	2.6
12.	Kirilenko, A. 	RUS	2.4
13.	Hamann, S. 	GER	2.3
14.	Holden, J. 	RUS	2.3
15.	Gasol, P. 	ESP	2.2
16.	Türkoglu, H. 	TUR	2.2
17.	Diamantidis, D. GRE	2.1
18.	Dragic, G. 	SLO	2.1
19.	Papaloukas, T. 	GRE	2.1
20.	Kus, D. 	CRO	2.0
21.	Spanoulis, V. 	GRE	2.0


STEALS PER GAME (SPG)
1.	Kirilenko, A. 	RUS	2.2
2.	Khryapa, V. 	RUS	2.1
3.	Planinic, Z. 	CRO	1.6
4.	Gigli, A. 	ITA	1.5
5.	Tapiro, M. 	ISR	1.5
6.	Kirksay, T. 	FRA	1.4
7.	Lakovic, J. 	SLO	1.4
8.	Siskauskas, R. 	LTU	1.4
9.	Diamantidis, D. GRE	1.3
10.	Fernandez, R. 	ESP	1.3
11.	Soragna, M. 	ITA	1.3
12.	Calderón, J. 	ESP	1.2
13.	Samoylenko, P. 	RUS	1.2
14.	Jordão, F. 	POR	1.2
15.	Holden, J. 	RUS	1.1
16.	Papaloukas, T. 	GRE	1.1
17.	Spanoulis, V. 	GRE	1.1


BLOCKS PER GAME (BPG)
1.	Nesterovic, R. 	SLO	1.9
2.	Gasol, P. 	ESP	1.8
3.	Kirilenko, A. 	RUS	1.8
4.	Green, Y. 	ISR	1.5
5.	Gigli, A. 	ITA	1.2
6.	Turiaf, R. 	FRA	1.1
7.	Diamantidis, D. GRE	1.0
8.	Nowitzki, D. 	GER	0.9
9.	Peker, K. 	TUR	0.8
10.	Lavrinovic, D. 	LTU	0.8
11.	Femerling, P. 	GER	0.7
12.	Türkoglu, H. 	TUR	0.7
13.	Crosariol, A. 	ITA	0.6
14.	Pietrus, F. 	FRA	0.6
15.	Lavrinovic, K. 	LTU	0.6
16.	Lorbek, E. 	SLO	0.6
17.	Savrasenko, A. 	RUS	0.6


FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE (FG%)
1.	Gasol, P. 	ESP	62.1
2.	Calderón, J. 	ESP	55.6
3.	Eliyahu, L. 	ISR	54.0
4.	Nesterovic, R. 	SLO	50.5
5.	Halperin, Y. 	ISR	49.2
6.	Green, Y. 	ISR	49.0
7.	Türkoglu, H. 	TUR	48.1
8.	Songaila, D. 	LTU	47.6
9.	Kirilenko, A. 	RUS	47.3
10.	Parker, T. 	FRA	46.8
11.	Khryapa, V. 	RUS	45.7
12.	Belinelli, M. 	ITA	45.5
13.	Siskauskas, R. 	LTU	44.7
14.	Kleiza, L. 	LTU	43.2
15.	Nowitzki, D. 	GER	43.2