Pau Gasol put on an MVP showing with 26 points and seven rebounds in just 18 minutes as world champions Spain overcame a motivated Israel 99-73 to clinch first place in Group E of the 2007 EuroBasket.

Spain scored the first 19 points of the fourth quarter to blow the game wide open in front of the home fans in Madrid.

		Lior Eliyahu was one of three Israelies with 15 points.

Jose Calderon scored all 15 of his points in the first half and Alex Mumbru and Jorge Garbajosa both tallied 12 points as the tournament hosts improved to 4-1 and passed Russia atop the group.

"We have achieved our aim which was to finish top of our group. We knew we had to play three tough games in the qualifying round and we've had to work hard to beat all of our opponents, including Israel tonight," said Gasol.

"It was a very difficult match. Israel always gives us a hard time and this time was no exception," added Calderon. "It took us time to get in the game, but once we took over it was our game."

The victory also means that Croatia will join Spain, Russia and Greece in the quarter-finals.

With a victory, Israel would have advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time since taking seventh in 2003 and just the second time since 1983.

"We showed everybody that we can match with the world champions. Spain is the best team here, and for more than 25 minutes we were in the game," said Israel forward Ido Kozikaro.

Lior Eliyahu, Meir Tapiro and Matan Naor each scored 15 points in a losing cause and combined for 12 rebounds, 11 assists and five steals. Yaniv Green collected nine points and 10 rebounds.

Pepu Hernandez made two changes to his starting lineup, as Sergio Rodriguez and Benri Rodriguez replaced Calderon and Rudy Fernandez, respectively.

		Jorge Garbajosa was four of seven from three-point range.

And the Israelis used a poor start by the hosts to jump out to a 12-4 lead four minutes into the game.

Gasol scored 10 points in the first quarter as Spain trimmed the deficit to four points, but Tapiro and Eliyahu both hit three-pointers in the final 25 seconds to push the lead to 29-19 after the first period.

A Tapiro long bomb extended the advantage to 32-19 early in the second, but it was Calderon's turn to take over as the Toronto Raptors play-maker scored 10 points in the period, and Gasol's turn-around jumper evened things at 43-43.

Israel, however, remained ahead 48-47 at the break.

Gasol continued in the second half where he left off in the first, scoring seven of Spain's first nine points as they pulled ahead 56-52 and Garbajosa drained three three-pointers over a three-minute stretch to extend the advantage to 69-60.

Israel would not go down without a fight, and Naor hit three from downtown to keep Zvi Sherf's team within 74-68 after three periods.

Israel's luck, however, had run out in the fourth quarter as they failed to score in the first 7:40 of the period and Spain surged ahead 93-68 with the first 19 points of the final quarter.

Spain

Jorge Garbajosa: "Israel played very well for a long time. They moved the ball very well in the first half but then we responded well in the second half and were more on target which helped us turn the game around."

"We were not surprised by their start. Maybe we were not completely ready for the start of the game. I think they played their best first half of the entire tournament. They have a great team. It was not easy to control them because they were playing comfortably."

Jose Calderon: "It was a very difficult match. Israel always gives us a hard time and this time was no exception. It took us time to get in the game, but once we took over it was our game. The fans had a big part in our come back. When you get such support from the fans, you just can't let them down."

Coach Pepu Hernandez: "First of all we have seen how things got complicated at the start of the game. Good news was that the team was able to react to a situation where we had a lot of difficulty against a very smart team. They were passing and cutting and getting open shots. Important thing is we stayed calm and waited for our right moment to get back into the game and go on to win. Our offense in third and fourth quarters was very positive. Important to grow in the competition and in every game. We don’t have any rivals but we have a lot of good teams to go up against."

About resting Juan Carlos Navarro: "It was a precaution, there’s no problem as of now."

Israel

Ido Kozikaro: "We started great. Even we didn't expect to lead by so much against Spain, but in the last quarter they were much better and took over the game. We showed everybody that we can match with the world champions. Spain is the best team here, and for more than 25 minutes we were strong in the game. It shows how good we can play if we had had our full roster here. We had a great championship. It was very sweet to make it here, and the wins over Croatia and Serbia put Israel back on the map."

Yotam Halperin: "It's always a big challenge to play agains Spain, and we always seem to give them a hard time, although this time the last quarter made it look easy for them, which I'm sure it wasn't. We knew it's our last chance to qualify but also that we aren't favorites to win, so we decided to make the best to leave a good taste. Tomorrow the people in Israel celebrate the new Jewish year, and we wanted to make it a happy holiday. I hope that for at least 30 minutes we made it happen. Now we go back home to celebrate with our families, but we leave Spain with a smile. We managed to learn a lot of things here, but also win some games, and make it further than most people believed."

Coach Zvi Shref: "We wanted very much to qualify for the quarter-finals but to surprise and beat the hosts was not going to be easy. We had a long journey. We didn’t lose our place today, we lost it in the game against Portugal. Spain are great, they have a deep team, a great spirit, great coaching staff. After three quarters maybe some of our players lost their legs and it got tough for us. Last quarter was huge for Spain. Thanks for the hospitality and for this tournament and good luck the rest of the way."

Spain have already clinched a place in the quarter-finals and their opponents today, Israel, have a chance of joining them.

Before Zvi Sherf's men even run out onto the court, though, other results must go their way for their game against Spain to mean anything.

Russia must beat Croatia and Greece must defeat Portugal. If that happens, then Israel would advance to the last eight with a victory over Spain.

Would anyone give the Israelis a chance against the world champions?

They should, especially considering what happened two years ago when the Israelis beat Spain in Novi Sad, 85-77, in group play.

Also consider that Israel have already upset Croatia in this tournament.

However, the likelihood is that they will not advance and it is largely down to their surprise defeat against Portugal two days ago.

		Gasol is a tough assignment for Israel's inside players

Last result: Spain beat Russia 81-69 while Israel lost to Portugal 94-85.

Key match-up: Pau Gasol v Lior Eliyahu. Gasol is arguably the most dominant player here in Spain, averaging 19.8 points per game. Eliyahu is young, but is an amazing talent. He was the only bright spot against Portugal.

Key Statistics: Israel were outrebounded 45-25 against Portugal and must improve in that department.

X-Factor: Eliyahu had his best game of the tournament against Portugal, scoring a game-high 29 points and hauling nine rebounds. The Maccabi Tel Aviv forward will be hoping for another big performance.

Speaking out: "We have found it difficult against Israel in our past games and they always give us problems. On Sunday they weren't expecting to lose against Portugal. They have a good group and we have to take this game with all seriousness. For us, our main aim is to finish top of our group but we have to take it one step at a time. We cannot already think that we have done it all, we must do our job on the court." Spain captain Carlos Jimenez.