OLYM - Spain deny France to reach Last Four

LONDON (Olympics) - Spain pulled away from France in the fourth quarter of their Quarter-Final to register a 66-59 win and set up a Semi-Final showdown with Russia.

In a re-match of last year's EuroBasket Final, the Spaniards trailed 53-51 at the end of the third quarter but went ahead midway through the final frame and held on to the lead for good.

Pau Gasol blocked a Nando De Colo lay-up attempt and it resulted into a fastbreak dunk for Sergio Llull at the other end to make it 58-57 with 5:35 left to play.

Both teams went cold as not a single point was scored for the next four minutes until Rudy Fernandez made a pair of free-throws for 60-57. He then blocked Tony Parker on the next trip down and France were whistled for a shotclock violation.

Spain then used their height advantage with Pau feeding his brother Marc Gasol for a lay-up and a 62-57 advantage with 45 seconds remaining.

The game then turned ugly as Ronny Turiaf and Nicolas Batum committed unsportsmanlike fouls on Fernandez - who left the game and did not return - and Juan Carlos Navarro respectively.

Calderon, shooting the free-throws in place of Fernandez, and Navaro combined to make two of four foul shots and a 64-57 lead.

Mickael Gelabale made a jumper in the dying seconds for the final scoreline and France's first points in 6:45 as they were outscored 15-6 in the period.

The two-time European champions remain on track to reach the Final like they did in 2008.

France had the advantage early on, leading 22-17 at the end of the first quarter and they took their biggest lead of the game, 27-19, when Nicolas Batum drilled a three-pointer just over

two minutes into the second period.

The Spaniards got within 29-25 on a Fernandez basket, before Florent Pietrus then hit from beyond the arc twice to put Les Bleus up 35-28.

Felipe Reyes and Marc Gasol enabled Sergio Scariolo's team to get within 37-34 at halftime.

The teams traded the lead in the third quarter, with the lead never more than four.

Spain were up 41-37 when Marc Gasol three-pointer and later France pulled in front 53-49 on a corner trey by Parker.

Navarro made a pair of free-throws for 53-51.

The French led by three twice in the fourth quarter, first when Ali Traore made a hook shot for 55-52 and then when Batum scored for 57-54.

Serge Ibaka then scored on a tip-in to get Spain within 57-56 before Pau Gasol's big defensive play on De Colo swung the game in Spain's favour for good.

Marc Gasol was Spain's high man with 14 points and eight rebounds.

Afterwards, Scariolo talked about the sense of accomplishment for his team.

"We are extremely satisfied and proud to be in the Semi-Finals of the Olympics. This was very tough," he said.

"To score was not easy tonight. In the second half we were able to raise the level of our defense, we had great second and third efforts from our players.

"We deserve it at the end of the day because the effort and intensity was remarkable."

France captain Boris Diaw, who finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists, praised his team's defensive effort.

"We fought well. I'm proud of the players and the team. We gave it our all," he said.

"We played well defensively. Holding Spain to 66 points is very good. At the same time there are some baskets we could have avoided. It's something to put down to maturity and awareness of what they did.

"We had problems scoring in the fourth quarter. But we still had chances in the end."

Spain take on Russia in Friday's Semi-Finals.

FIBA