FRA/BRA - All-action Jackson, Les Bleuets blow out Brazil

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NOVI SAD (FIBA U19 World Championship) - Rampant France made it two wins out of two in Group A of the FIBA U19 World Championship with a comprehensive thrashing of Brazil.

After dusting off the cobwebs with a tight 85-82 victory over Lithuania on Thursday, Les Bleuets were much more impressive 24 hours later.

Edwin Jackson was again France's go-to man, the guard adding 24 points to the 25-point haul he claimed against the Lithuanians.

He was assisted by team-mate and captain Nicolas Batum (13 points and seven rebounds), as the French established a 23-14 lead by the end of the first quarter and pushed on from there.

Jackson was instrumental in building that cushion, the Adecco ASVEL prodigy nailing 13 straight points - including two jumpers from behind the arc in the left corner - to put the Europeans 28-14 up.

Brazil, who won their opener against Lebanon and had 17 points and 11 rebounds from star man Paulao Prestes here, closed the gap to 38-33 with a three-pointer from Mineiro de Souza with 2:21 left in the second quarter. But that was as close as they would get.

The second half, which France started 42-35 ahead, was one-way traffic.

Richard Billant's youngsters extended their advantage to 51-36 and with 3:49 left in the third quarter, a Jackson three-pointer left Brazil 61-45 in arrears - their biggest deficit of the match thus far.

It was to get worse for the South Americans, and midway through the fourth quarter an inspired six-point run by the irrepressible Jackson allowed France to build a mammoth 83-57 lead.

The final minutes were a procession for the French, who play Lebanon on Saturday in their final pool match.

Jose Alves Neto's Brazil will look to bounce back from this rout when they take on Lithuania.

Steve Douglas
FIBA