EuroBasket 2007, Bronze-Medal Game
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Lithuania finished third and clinched a berth at the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing by downing Greece 69-78 in the bronze-medal game on Sunday. Lithuania earned the right to take part in its fifth consecutive Olympics, while Greece joins Germany, Croatia and Slovenia as the four European teams to take part in the World Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament next summer. It is Lithuania's first bronze medal at a EuroBasket
championships, after striking gold in 1937, 1939 and 2003, as winning the silver medal in 1995. Ksystof Lavrinovic of Montepaschi Siena paced the winners with 19 points, Linas Kleiza and Ramunas Siskauskas of CSKA each added 13 and Sarunas Jasikevicius added 11 for Lithuania. Nikos Zisis of CSKA had 23 points to lead Greece, while Demos Dikoudis of Panathinaikos added 10. A 1-13 run in the second quarter allowed Lithuania to get the lead for good, and Siskauskas hit back-to-back triples late in the final period to allow his team to cruise to a well-deserved win.
 Greece tried to slow down the tempo in the early going, but Ksystof Lavrinovic followed a three-pointer with back-to-back layups for a 2-7 Lithuanian lead. Greece had trouble scoring and a corner triple by Siskauskas gave Lithuania a 6-12 lead after six minutes. Euroleague MVP Theo Papaloukas of CSKA stepped on court and soon dunked off a steal. Zisis then added a driving layup for a 12-14 Greek deficit. Darjus Lavrinovic of Unics Kazan had a tap-in before Simas Jasaitis of Tau Ceramica and Zisis traded triples. Free throws by All-Euroleague guard Dimitris Diamantidis of Panathinaikos fixed the score at 19-20 after 10 minutes. Ksystof Lavrinovic buried one from downtown but Ioannis Bouroussis of Olympiacos and another triple by Zisis gave Greece a 24-23 edge. Rimantas Kaukenas of Montepaschi and Kostas Tsartsaris of Panathinaikos exchanged three-pointers and then Papaloukas scored off another steal to cause Lithuania to call timeout at 29-26. Jasikevicius stepped up with 5 points in a 1-13 run, which Kleiza capped with a corner three-pointer to give Lithuania a promising 30-39 lead. Free throws by Papaloukas and Panos Vasilopoulos of Olympiacos got Greece within 34-41 at halftime.
Vasilopoulos and Zisis got Greece within 38-41 right after the break, but Jasikevicius and Kleiza buried respective triples to keep Lithuania out of trouble, 42-49. Kleiza hit once more from downtown and Siskauskas and Ksystof Lavrinovic made free throws to boost the Lithuanian lead to double digits, 46-56. Greece did not panic as Zisis followed free throws with a three-pointer to get his team going. Vasilopoulos also hit from downtown, but Ksystof Lavrinovic erased it with a layup-plus-foul as Lithuania remained ahead 54-62 after 30 minutes. Zisis and Vassilis Spanoulis scored back-to-back baskets early in the fourth quarter, but Lithuania had improved its defensive intensity. Jasaitis and Siskauskas nailed three-pointers to break the game open, 58-70, with less than six minutes to go. Free throws by Zisis and Diamantidis tried to ignite a Greek comeback, but Lithuania had other ideas. Siskauskas nailed another bomb from downtown and beat the shot clock buzzer with a six-meter shot to seal the outcome, 64-75, with two minutes remaining. Greece ran out of time, allowing the Lithuanian fans in the stands to celebrate another historic win.
 Earlier in the day, Germany clinched fifth place at EuroBasket 2007 by downing Croatia 71-80. As usual, Dirk Nowitzki paced the winners with 31 points on 7-of-9 two-point shooting, 8-of-8 from the free-throw line and 11 rebounds. Jan-Hendrick Jagla of DKV Joventut added 11 points while Demond Greene of Brose Baskets had 10 for Germany, which rallied from a 15-point deficit to win the game. Marko Banic had 16 points for Croatia, Marko Popovic of Zalgiris Kaunas added 11 and Davor Kus of Unicaja 10. Both teams had already qualified for the World Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament next summer, in which they will battle for the last three Olympic spots along with 10 other teams. Croatia opened the game with a 9-2 run, which Marko Tomas capped with a triple. Germany tied the score at at 16-16, but Popovic and Niksa Prkacin helped their team to a 25-16 margin after 10 minutes. Popovic stayed on fire while a driving layup by Roko-Leni Ukic made it a 15-point game, 39-24. Nowitzki single-handedly took Germany back in the game and soon got some help from Jagla to give his team its first lead, 57-58, at the end of the third quarter. Greene followed a fast break layup with a corner triple to boost the German lead to 61-70 with six minutes to go. Croatia could not recover and Germany finished EuroBaket 2005 with a prestigious win.
 Slovenia finished seventh and earned a spot in the World Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament next summer by downing France 74-88 in the first game on Sunday. Jaka Lakovic of AXA FCB paced the winners with 26 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Rasho Nesterovic added 19 points while Matjaz Smodis of CSKA and Uros Slokar of Triumph Lyubersty each had 13 for Slovenia. Tony Parker led France with 31 points, Ronny Turiaf added 13 and Jospeh Gomis 10. France seemed to have the game under control, as it led 57-49 late in the third quarter. It didn't last long, however, as Lakovic and Slokar combined for all the points in a 0-11 run that saw Slovenia regain the lead, 57-60. Parker kept pacing France, but he didn't find get help. Meanwhile, Goran Jagodnik of Hemofarm, Lakovic and Smodis all hit from downtown to break the game open, 63-75, with three minutes to go. Lakovic had 8 points in the final two minutes to allow Slovenia to seal the outcome long before the final buzzer.
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Sunday, September 16, 2007
Javier Gancedo, Madrid
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