February 07, 2012
France, Bosnia win at EuroBasket qualifying
Florent Pietrus - France (Photo: FIBA Europe/Castoria)France and Bosnia & Herzegovina won their openers to get a leg up for the last ticket for EuroBasket 2009 via the Additional Qualifying Round. France edged host Italy in overtime 77-80 in Group B in Cagliari behind 20 points apiece from Valencia's Florent Pietrus and former Le Mans star Nicolas Batum. In Group A, Bosnia & Herzegovina scored a 56-62 win at Portugal as Barcelona's rising star Nihad Dedovic netted 15. The action continues on Saturday when Bosnia hosts Belgium and Finland visits France. In all the six active teams will play four round robin games, at the end of which the two group winners will meet in a two-legged playoff for a spot in Group B of EuroBasket, alongside defending champion Russia, Latvia and Germany in the city of Gdansk, Poland.

Pietrus dominated early for France, scoring 10 points as the visitors took a 6-16 advantage. It wasn’t until Angelo Gigli of Virtus Roma stepped for Italy that the hosts responded inside. Gigli's basket and foul on the offensive glass marked Italy's first rebound and he would add a dunk and a blocked shot on Boris Diaw to get his team within 15-21 after 10 minutes. Gigli threw down another slam to keep the Italian momentum going and baskets by Marco Cusin and Armani Jeans' Stefano Mancinelli completed a 15-3 charge that put the hosts ahead 25-24. Aymeric Jeanneau of Asvel Basket drilled a triple to awake the French and soon a Pietrus slam had the visitors in control as the sides went to the lockers with the scoreboard showing 29-35. France nursed its lead for much of the third quarter before Marco Belinelli caught fire, drilling a three and drawing an unsportsmanlike foul, which eventually led to Gigli's go-ahead basket before Nando De Colo of Valencia knotted the game at 51-51 heading into the fourth quarter. It remained close throughout the fourth quarter and Belinelli 2 free throws with 33 seconds to play tied the score. France missed twice on its final possession and the game went to overtime. The home side scored the first 5 points of the extra period, but France didn't fold. Batum heated up and Diaw and Pietrus scored in a 2-10 charge that turned the game on its head. Andrea Bargnani brought Italy within 1 with 30 seconds remaining, however Antoine Diot of Le Mans was ice from the line with 4 perfect free throws to seal the win. Diaw finished with 15 for the winning team. Belinelli led Italy with 26 points, Gigli tallied 13 and Bargnani scored 10.

Bosnia & Herzegovina seemed in total control of their Group A game after taking a 22-36 halftime advantage in Povoa de Varzim. However Portugal never gave up hope and used a 20-9 fourth quarter to cause some excitement. Nevertheless, the Bosnians had enough gas in the tank to finish off the 6-point win. Young Dedovic led the winners with 15 points, Ratko Varda added 14 and Ivan Opacak scored 11. Jorge Coelho led Portugal with 17 and Joao Gomes scored 12 in the loss.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Euroleague.net
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