Spain and France will meet in a colossal semifinals showdown after defeating their respective opponents in the quarterfinals of the EuroBasket Men 2013 in Slovenia.
The two countries met in the gold medal match of the 2011 edition of the European championship.
The defending champions Spain struggled to find their rhythm in the preliminary round of the tournament, but they showed their real strength in their masterful 90-60 win over Serbia in Ljubljana.
Spain started strong and displayed tremendous defense while also hitting strides on the offensive end of the floor to take a commanding 21-5 lead. The lead ballooned to 25 points at the half, 48-23, and they never looked back from then on, sending a strong message to the rest of the field with their dominating performance.
Sergio Rodriguez paced Spain with 22 points and four assists, while the team's leading scorer Rudy Fernandez had another stellar performance, scoring 19 points with 13 of them coming in the opening period in which he shot 3-for-3 from the three-point region.
"We were more disciplined at the back than in previous games, although it's also true that when they don't hit shots it makes your defense look better. But I think we were well-positioned for the rebounds, we run correctly, we shared the ball correctly, small things that seem easy but are less so at this level," said Spanish star center Marc Gasol, who finished with seven points, six assists, and five rebounds, in a FIBA interview.
Meanwhile, France booked a date with defending champions Spain by scoring a huge 72-62 win over Slovenia in front of more than ten thousand fans at the Stozice Arena.
Getting inspiration and added energy from their hometown crowd, Slovenia fought toe-to-toe with the star-studded French squad. The hosts were within striking distance, 54-49, with seven minutes left in the game, but France quickly increased the lead to 10 points a minute later and they never slowed down until the final buzzer sounded.
Superstar point guard Tony Parker was a dominant force as he finished with 27 points and three rebounds, while fellow NBA players Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw added 14 and 10 points, respectively, for France.
EuroBasket Men 2013 Quarterfinals Box Score and Highlights
You can check the official box score of the Spain-Serbia match on the official FIBA EuroBasket 2013 website. You can also view the full statistics of the France-Slovenia match on that website by clicking on this link.
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