EuroBasket - Spain bounce back to claim bronze

LJUBLJANA (EuroBasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Spain bounced back from losing to France in the Semi-Finals of EuroBasket 2013 to beat Croatia, 92-66, and claim the bronze medal.

Sergio Llull came off the bench to hit five three-pointers and score a team-high 21 points while Marc Gasol collected 17 points, eight rebounds and two assists and Victor Claver totalled 16 points.

"We were very disappointed about losing the Semi-Final against France. Our goal was to take a medal from this tournament," said Claver.

"This was our chance. We showed that we are a winning team."

Spain have now collected a medal in seven of the last eight EuroBaskets with gold in 2009 and 2011; silver in 1999, 2003 and 2007; and bronze in 2001.

Spain coach Juan Orenga paid tribute to his team.

"All the players stepped up during the game," he said. "When you took a look at their eyes you could tell that they wanted to get a medal."

Croatia got 22 points from Bojan Bogdanovic and a dozen from Roko Ukic but it wasn't enough for Croatia to collect a third bronze in their history, having done so in 1993 and 1995.

"It's a shame not to win a medal with all the great performances we gave but we are proud of the result and we will keep working hard," said Croatian forward Dario Saric, who had six points and four rebounds.

Croatia opened the scoring but Spain jumped right on top of them with an 11-0 run for a 14-4 lead after a three-pointer by Claver. Nine points by Bogdanovic and a triple from Damjan Rudez got Croatia within 17-16. But Llull closed the quarter with two of his five made baskets from beyond the arc on the day for a 23-18 Spain advantage.

Bogdanovic nailed back-to-back three-pointers to give Croatia the lead 28-27 only to see Llull also hit from long range to push Spain back ahead. Claver scored eight points in the second period and another Llull trey sent Spain to the locker room ahead 47-36.

Croatia cut the deficit to 47-40 early in the second half but Spain hit right back with a 7-0 run to push their advantage up to 14. The Spanish just had too many weapons and Rudy Fernandez and Gasol carried the team the rest of the third period, by the end of which they led 63-48.

An Ukic triple had Croatia within 67-53 but Spain ended all hopes with a 9-0 spurt to finish them off once and for all.

For full and in-depth coverage of EuroBasket 2013, go to the official website http://www.eurobasket2013.org.

FIBA