By Rigas Dardalis/ dardalis@eurohoops.net
It was a dogfight, like a big Eurobasket game should be and in the end France was the one still standings. “Les Bleus” beat Spain 75-72 after overtime in a historic night for Tony Parker. The French star scored 32 points and passed second in the all time scoring list of Eurobaskets with 984 points, leaving behind him Dirk Nowitzki with 983, while Greek legend Nick Galis is still on top with 1030 points.
After leading 34-20 in the half time, Spain believed that the rest of the way will not be bumpy, but France didn’t surrender and in the start of the fourth quarter Nando De Colo with a three pointer cut the lead to just three points (49-46). With the game tied at 65-65 and 40 seconds left, Sergio Rodriguez missed a lay up, Parker was blocked and then Jose Calderon with a missed three pointer and Victor Claver with a failed tip in missed the chance to avoid overtime.
The game was decided with Antoine Diot making 4/4 free throws in the last second of the extra time, then Rodriguez missing a two pointer and finally Marc Gasol final second desperation three point shot not finding the target.
“It’s great, it feels good, but we have one more game. We can’t celebrate too much. Lithuania is impressive and we must play one more great game”, said Nicolas Batum who admitted that Boris Diaw and of course Parker sparked the come back of France: “Boris’ foul against Rodriguez at the end of the first half was a message that woke up the team. After that we battled like dogs”.