ESP - Gasol and Spain fight back to beat Israel

MADRID (EuroBasket 2007) - Israel led at half-time but Pau Gasol and Spain turned on the style in the second half to win 99-73 and storm into the quarter-finals of the EuroBasket as Group F winners.
 
Gasol scored 26 points and pulled down seven rebounds in just 17 minutes as the world champions won for the fifth time in the tournament.
 
“We have achieved our aim which is to finish top of our group,” Gasol said to PA SportsTicker.
 
“We knew we had to play three hard games in the qualifying round and we’ve had to work hard in order to beat all of our opponents, including Israel.”
 
Coach Zvi Sherf’s Israelis, who upset Croatia in the qualifying round but then lost to Portugal, needed a victory to advance to the last eight.
 
They could not have had a better start against a Spanish side that had Portland Trail Blazers point guard Sergio Hernandez starting in place of Jose Calderon.
 
Israel got a lift from Lior Eliyahu, who came off the bench to score seven of his 15 points in the first quarter, including an off-balance 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to signal the end to the first quarter.
 
Israel stayed in front at half-time, 48-47, but Spain went on a 10-0 run midway through the third quarter, during which a huge defensive play from Carlos Jimenez swung the momentum their way for good.
 
Eliyahu soared towards the basket and looked set to put Israel three-point lead, but team captain Jimenez leapt and blocked the shot to trigger a fast break, and Jorge Garbajosa drilled a 3-pointer to put the Spanish in front for good at 59-57.
 
Berni Rodriguez followed with a lay-up and Garbajosa, the Toronto Raptor, struck again from long range for a 64-57 lead.
 
By the end of the quarter, the Spanish led 74-68, and in the fourth quarter they destroyed the Israelis, outscoring them 25-5.
 
Spain will now play the winner of the game between Dirk Nowitzki’s Germany and Italy, who have Andrea Bargnani and Marco Belinelli in their talented lineup.
 
"We know that regardless of the opponents, our quarter-final is going to be difficult,” Gasol said.
 
“Our only thought is to win. Perhaps Italy is a team that is more challenging to beat, but we will have to wait and see what they do in tomorrow's game."
 
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.
 
The Portuguese struggled to contain Greece's big men, including Dimos Dikoudis who led the team with 17 points and nine rebounds.
 
Andrei Kirilenko scored a game-high 20 points and hauled in eight rebounds as Russia pulled away from Croatia 83-70.
 
Trailing by as many as seven points in the first half, the Russians closed the gap to 42-41 on a Kirilenko dunk and by the end of the third quarter led 60-56.
 
David Blatt’s team then opened the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run and was in command the rest of the way.
 
“In the first half we played their game and we were in trouble,” said Kirilenko.” But after the break we executed our offense and played great defense, We forced Croatia to make mistakes and that’s why we got so much fast breaks and easy points from their turnovers.“ Russia have lost just one game so far at the EuroBasket and have already guaranteed themselves a place in the quarter-finals, where they have stumbled in recent tournaments.
 
“We are satisfied,” said Kirilenko. ”We have only lost against world champions Spain but of course, this tournament is about one game and that is the quarter-finals.”
 
Blatt’s team is likely to meet next Tony Parker’s France in the last eight.
 
“It will be a tough game against them,” said Kirilenko.
 
“They have a great point guard in Tony, who is the leader of the team.
 
“We need do a good job on him and then try to stop France.”

Cindy Garcia-Bennett
FIBA