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Russia, France roll into semis
Source: Agencies |
September 17, 2011, Saturday
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RUSSIA and France marched confidently into the European championship semifinals on Thursday after both teams produced strong defensive performances.
The Russians, who won the 2007 tournament in Spain, beat 2009 runner-up Serbia 77-67 thanks to an excellent all-round display by forward Andrei Kirilenko, who finished the game with 14 points and 11 rebounds,
France, aiming for its first title after it won the bronze medal in 2005, grounded out a 64-56 win over Greece after allowing the 2005 winner to convert a mere 34 percent of its shots from the field.
Russia and France will meet in the second semifinal after defending champion Spain, which won its first title in Poland 2009, takes on surprise package Macedonia.
Earlier, host Lithuania, which suffered a shock 67-65 quarterfinal defeat by Macedonia on Wednesday, beat Slovenia 80-77 in its 5th-8th place playoff match. The result means Lithuania has secured a berth in next year's Olympic qualifying tournament while Slovenia, which hosts the next European Championship in 2013, was eliminated.
Injury-hit Serbia, which was missing point guards Milenko Tepic and Aleksandar Rasic, briefly looked capable of upsetting the Russians after scoring the opening four points of the game.
Dominate boards
That was the last time it held the lead as Kirilenko and Timofey Mozgov began to dominate the boards and also carved out an avalanche of open shots for their teammates, who hit a total of seven three-pointers and scored a barrage of second-chance points. Serbia's playmaker Milos Teodosic finished with a game-high 20 points, but he also committed nine turnovers which invariably resulted in fast breaks and easy points for the Russians.
The more athletic Russian team had nine rebounds and eight assists more than Serbia, which struggled to contain Utah Jazz forward Kirilenko at either end of the court. Victor Khryapa and Andrey Vorontsevich added 11 points each while Aleksey Shved chipped in 10 to cap a balanced team effort for Russia.
The French trailed throughout the opening three quarters against Greece before their inspirational playmaker Tony Parker took matters into his own hands and propelled the comeback with eight points in the final period.
Greece had made the brighter start and romped to a 15-4 lead early on, after grinding a usually lethal French offence to a halt with tight zonal marking.
With Parker struggling in the first three periods, Nando De Colo kept France afloat with good perimeter shooting while center Joachim Noah held his own in the paint. Parker finished the game with 18 points.
The Russians, who won the 2007 tournament in Spain, beat 2009 runner-up Serbia 77-67 thanks to an excellent all-round display by forward Andrei Kirilenko, who finished the game with 14 points and 11 rebounds,
France, aiming for its first title after it won the bronze medal in 2005, grounded out a 64-56 win over Greece after allowing the 2005 winner to convert a mere 34 percent of its shots from the field.
Russia and France will meet in the second semifinal after defending champion Spain, which won its first title in Poland 2009, takes on surprise package Macedonia.
Earlier, host Lithuania, which suffered a shock 67-65 quarterfinal defeat by Macedonia on Wednesday, beat Slovenia 80-77 in its 5th-8th place playoff match. The result means Lithuania has secured a berth in next year's Olympic qualifying tournament while Slovenia, which hosts the next European Championship in 2013, was eliminated.
Injury-hit Serbia, which was missing point guards Milenko Tepic and Aleksandar Rasic, briefly looked capable of upsetting the Russians after scoring the opening four points of the game.
Dominate boards
That was the last time it held the lead as Kirilenko and Timofey Mozgov began to dominate the boards and also carved out an avalanche of open shots for their teammates, who hit a total of seven three-pointers and scored a barrage of second-chance points. Serbia's playmaker Milos Teodosic finished with a game-high 20 points, but he also committed nine turnovers which invariably resulted in fast breaks and easy points for the Russians.
The more athletic Russian team had nine rebounds and eight assists more than Serbia, which struggled to contain Utah Jazz forward Kirilenko at either end of the court. Victor Khryapa and Andrey Vorontsevich added 11 points each while Aleksey Shved chipped in 10 to cap a balanced team effort for Russia.
The French trailed throughout the opening three quarters against Greece before their inspirational playmaker Tony Parker took matters into his own hands and propelled the comeback with eight points in the final period.
Greece had made the brighter start and romped to a 15-4 lead early on, after grinding a usually lethal French offence to a halt with tight zonal marking.
With Parker struggling in the first three periods, Nando De Colo kept France afloat with good perimeter shooting while center Joachim Noah held his own in the paint. Parker finished the game with 18 points.
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