By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Thomas Heurtel (20 points, eight assists) and Rudy Gobert (19 points, 14 rebounds) took over as France beat Italy 93 – 85 to move to the 2022 EuroBasket semifinal. Les Bleus are back in medal contention after finishing 12th in the 2017 EuroBasket.
“Today is different than the game against Turkey,” Heurtel said.” I think today we showed more character than the game against Turkey. In the overtime, I think we played great basketball, organized basketball. And I think we played great in the end.”
The Italian team was close to pulling off another upset after the eighthfinal win over Serbia but didn’t manage to close the game in regulation despite leading 77 – 75 with 16 seconds in the fourth period. Simone Fontecchio, a close to 90 percent free-throw shooter, went 0-2 from the line while on the other end, Heurtel made the layup to tie the game.
Fontechhio, who had given his squad a 68 – 75 advantage with 2:16 to play, missed a shot under the basket as the fourth-quarter buzzer sounded. The finale of regulation looked really similar with the Round of 16 game between France and Turkey when Cedi Osman also missed a pair of free throws while his squad led by two in the final seconds.
Heurtel doesn’t agree much. “Today is different than the game against Turkey. I think today we showed more character than the game against Turkey. In the overtime I think we played great basketball, organized basketball. And I think we played great in the end.”
When the extra period began, Heurtel continue stepping up with six points in the first minutes while Gobert scored four straight to put France up 89 – 85 with 50 seconds remaining after a tip-in basket. Terry Tarpey made two free throws and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot sealed the deal with a celebratory dunk in transition.
“A big chance for us, but we are hurt again – for a fourth time we couldn’t go through the quarterfinals,” Italy captain Gigi Datome said. “I know very well what this means. But when we get some distance we will feel proud of ourselves. ”
Marco Spissu was trying to keep Italy close with a couple of shots but his team saw Nicolo Melli getting ejected with a fifth foul with 1:55 to go, leaving a gap in the team’s frontline. Spissu, the Azzurri’s hero vs. Serbia, finished with 21 points while Fontecchio had 21.
Photo: FIBA Basketball