A defiant Slovenia side edged France 67-66 to clinch top spot of Group D.

With Slovenia leading 67-65 with 0.1 seconds left to play, France had a chance to take the game to overtime but Tony Parker only made one of two attempts from the charity stripe to give their opponents their third straight win.

With Jaka Lakovic heavily marked by Les Bleus, Slovenian guard Domen Lorbek came up strong for his team on the night.

Lorbek sank the crucial free-throws to give his team the lead for good with 12 second left on the clock.

The 22-year-old finished with 15 points and was a pefect five for five from the field and four of five from the charity stripe.

"We were lucky in the end and we won the game," said Lorbek.

Slovenia felt unjustly punished when the official threw out captain Rasho Nesterovic of the game after a foul on Parker three minutes into the third quarter but it by no means hindered his team.

"I am very proud of my team-mates for what they did tonight," said Nesterovic. "They showed a lot of character and unity to come from 15 points down and win the game."

The center’s disqualification saw France go up 48-33 but a never-say-die Slovenia hit back with a 16-3 run to take a 52-51 lead with two minutes left to play in the quarter.

"Nesterovic's departure changed the game completely," said France coach Claude Bergeaud.

"We played slow on offense and defense and in the last minutes of the game we had little energy and we lost our concentration."

Bergeaud had requested his team to have a balanced scoring and a better sharing of the ball after Parker's heroics led to a win over Italy.

		Turiaf's 15 points weren't enough as France lost their way

His wishes were immediately answered with France having four different players scoring his team's first points - Parker did finish with a game-high 25 points while Ronny Turiaf added 15.

Following a level first quarter, Les Bleus stepped up their defense and limited Slovenia to one point over the next three minutes as they went on a 7-1 run to take command.

France suffered a setback with, Turiaf - their leading top scorer (10 points) at that point in the game - left the court after sustaining a right shoulder injury following a foul from Nesterovic.

Parker hit his team's first three-pointer with less than two minutes to go in the first half.

It sparked his team on a 7-0 run, with the NBA superstar scoring five points in that surge to help France take a 39-31 half-time lead.

Bergeaud’s men committed just two turnovers in the first half while their opponents turned the ball over nine times.

France led 56-52 going into the final period but their hopes of pulling away were quashed as Slovenia kept hitting back.

With 54 seconds remaining and France leading 65-64, Parker missed a three-point attempt and his team-mate Tariq Kirksay fouled Lorbek, sending him to the line.

Lorbek made one of two to tie the contest at 65 a piece with 36 seconds on the clock.

Kirksay then missed a jumpshot and Lorbek again was sent to the foul line with 11 seconds left after being foul by Florent Pietrus. He made the pair to see Slovenia remain undefeated (3-0) in the group.

Slovenia were 18 for 24 (75%) from the free-throw line while France were 21 for 30(70%).

Slovenia out-rebounded France 32 to 27.

Slovenia

Guard Domen Lorbek: "This was another crazy game for us. We were down 15 points and we lost our captain Rasho Nesterovic. We knew we had to play for him and we showed character. The key was our defense although we were lucky in the end."

Coach Ales Pipan: "I have to congratulate my players, they put their hearts on the court tonight. Tonight's win is the biggest gift we could give to our fans here in Alicante. I now hope that we don't stop there."

France

Coach Claude Bergeaud: "This was a tough game but it's good for us because we will learn from it. We started well and controlled the game early on but we lost our focus when Rasho Nesterovic was thrown out and in the crucial minutes we had little energy on both offense and defense."

France and Slovenia have already assured themselves a place in the qualifying round having won their two opening games but they will battle for top spot in Group D when they meet tonight.

Ales Pipan's men come into the tie in confident mood after triumphs against Italy and Poland.

		Lakovic faces a big challenge against Parker

However, they will face their biggest test yet when they take on Tony Parker & Co.

Key Match-up: Parker versus Jaka Lakovic. Parker is the focal point of the French offense so any team that takes on Les Bleus must try to limit the damage caused by the NBA superstar. Lakovic has already shown that he is the man for the big occasions by hitting a buzzer-beating three-pointer to defeat Italy in the opening game but containing Parker will be his biggest challenge for him this summer.

Key stats: Parker has the green light to put up three-pointers but Slovenia should not make the mistake of leaving either Boris Diaw or Tariq Kirksay open because they have proved they can also hit from long-range. The battle of the boards will be really intense with both sides having out-rebounded their opponents in past games. The reasons these two teams have been successful so far is down to the fact that they have rebounded the ball so well.

X-Factor: Over-reliance in Parker is the main concern for France coach Claude Bergaud who hopes his team can have a balanced scoring and a better sharing of the ball.

Speaking out: "Slovenia are a team that if they have an inspiring day they can do a lot of damage with their long-range shooting." - Parker.
”We will try to play a very good game, we can improve our game a lot. France have great players like Tony Parker and Boris Diaw. With Tony, we can risk a little bit to try to limit him but he was so hot this year it will be a big challenge for us." - Erazem Lorbek.