By Aris Barkas / barkas@eurohoops.net
PARIS, France – In the most crucial game so far of France in the Olympics, Evan Fournier and three EuroLeague players made the difference.
Not Gobert, or Wembanyama, but the trio of Guershon Yabusele (20 p.), Isaia Cordinier (20 p.), and Mathias Lessort (13 p.) were the stars for France that beat Canada 82 – 73 and is going to face Germany in the Olympic basketball tournament semifinals.
Fournier was decisive down the stretch with 11 out of his 13 points in the last four minutes. He also hit a crazy triple from deep that put France up 76 – 66 with 55 seconds to play.
Victor Wembanyama contributed four points on 1/7 FG and 10 rebounds, Rudy Gobert played just four minutes, but France had no issues.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 25 points tried his best, but he was the only scorer in double digits for Canada during the first three quarters, with RJ Barrett adding 13.
Mixing things up
France decided to start with Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier on the bench and this trick worked with Cordinier starting and scoring 10 points in less than 10 minutes.
The Olympic hosts were leading 23-10 after 10 minutes of action and Canada was playing catch up. The French lead jumped even to 15 points (30-15) and the first half ended with Yabusele scoring a three to push the lead to 16 (45-29).
Yabusele finished the half with 12 points, Cordinier with 13, and Lessort added 10.
Canada’s comeback
With the first made shot of the second half, again by Cordinier, France’s advantage jumped to 19 points (48-29) and that was the key for Canada to react with a 13-4 run (52-42).
An already very physical game became even more tense. Shai managed to drop the point difference to single digits (54-46) and Canada made it even a seven-point game (56-49).
Still, the third period was completed with the score being 61-50 for France.
The North Americans didn’t give up, starting the last period with a 5-0 run (61-55), cutting the lead to six. However, Shai missed two free throws and the chance to get even closer.
The lead went up to 10 (65-55) with the duo of Cordinier and Yabusele being unstoppable, the French defense was fearsome, but Canada had one more 5-0 run to cut the lead to five (65-60) with four minutes left. However, they couldn’t get any closer with Evan Fournier contributing big buckets.
Photo credit: FIBA