Russia made more of their free-throw attempts down the stretch than France did and that proved the difference as David Blatt’s men won 75-71 to reach their first EuroBasket semi-final in 10 years.

With the game tied at 69-69, J.R. Holden hit both his shots from the line to edge his team ahead 71-69 with 24 seconds left to play. 

		Spotty free throw shooting had Claude Bergeaud shaking his head.

Nine seconds later, France’s Boris Diaw – who once had an 0 for 11 performance from the foul line against Slovenia in this event two years ago – blew his chance to tie the score when he missed both attempts from the charity stripe.

However, Zakhar Pashutin left the door open for Les Bleus when he did the same as Diaw.

Unfortunately for the 2005 bronze medallists, Tony Parker could only make one of two and Pashutin then made amends for his mistake by sinking a pair from the charity stripe to make it a 73-70 lead with four seconds left.

Russia fouled Parker again and the playmaker hit his first shot before intentionally missing the second in the hope that one of his team-mates getting an offensive rebound. But it wasn’t to be.
 
Holden admitted afterwards a lot of thought went into Russia's "fouling strategy" late in the game.

”We knew that France struggled a little bit from the free-throw line. So we just didn't want to put on their shooters or Tony Parker,” he admitted. “And we're happy that he missed one down the stretch. That's just how the ball bounces sometimes in basketball.”

“This is a big win for us. We surprised a lot of teams by getting here. We just had to stay aggressive and play our game. And we just weren’t afraid and that was the difference.”

Blatt was the one who constantly reminded his players to be confident.

“I told them to believe in themselves and that we were going to put an end to this drought (10 years without reaching a EuroBasket semi-final),” he said afterwards.

They will now face the winner of tomorrow’s quarter-final between Lithuania and Croatia.

Russia last reached a EuroBasket semi-final in 1997 which coincidentally was the last time the tournament was held in Spain.

But they were made to work very hard for the win and owed much to the fine and clutch play of Holden in the last 10 minutes.

The point guard scored five of his team’s points in a 7-0 run that saw them turn a 61-57 deficit into a 64-61 lead.

Russia were dealt a big blow when star player Andrei Kirilenko fouled out with 3:25 left, which allowed France to even the game at 64-64.

Another Holden long-range bomb and a Petr Samoylenko lay up though gave the Russians some breathing room at 69-64 with 2:35 left but Diaw made a lay up and Parker hit a clutch three just over a minute later to tie the game at 69-69.

However, Russia were the more accurate team from the foul line in the final minute and it proved to be the deciding factor.

Afterwards, Parker – who earlier in the tournament missed a clutch free-throw to tie the game in France’s group stage game against Slovenia – made no excuses as France failed to reach their second consecutive EuroBasket semi-final .

"There's little to say, we had our chances and we didn't make them,” he said bluntly. “It's frustrating, we will have to look at the video and see where we went wrong. Russia are a good team, they played well and they made the most of the chances."

Claude Bergeaud’s men led for a large part of the game after using a 17-7 run in the second quarter to turn a 27-23 deficit into a 40-34 lead behind a three-point barrage by Tariq Kirksay, Cedric Ferchaud and Florent Pietrus.

Russia though clawed their way back behind Victor Khryapa to trail by just three, 42-39, at half time.

And they kept the game close after the break as both teams combined for 13 turnovers in a very sloppy third quarter.

France lost their composure in the final period long before their free-throw woes came back to haunt them as their accuracy from long range deserted them and they struggled to create any good scoring opportunities as Russia buckled down on defense.

Les Bleus were an abysmal nine of 20 from the free-throw line (45%) while Russia were only marginally better hitting nine of their 17 attempts (53%).

Khryapa had a team-high 16 points for Russia with Holden adding 15 and Morgunov chipping in with 14 off the bench.

Diaw had a game-high 17 points and Parker was France’s only other player to score in double figures with 15 points.

France will now play for the 5th to 8th places.

Russia

Guard J.R. Holden: "This is a big win for us. We surprised a lot of teams by getting here. We just had to stay agressive and play our game. And we just weren't afraid and that was the difference."

(About Andrei Kirilenko fouling out with three minutes left in game) "That's when I thought I had to be agressive. We were having problems scoring points so I knew we were going to win or lose on my hand and some shots went in."

(About the free throws at the end of the game) "We made them when they counted."

(If the team knew that Boris Diaw had free throw issues in the past) "We knew that the team struggled a little bit from the free throw line. So we just didn't want to put on their shooters or Tony Parker. And we're happy that he missed one down the stretch. That's just how the ball bounces sometimes in basketball."

Coach David Blatt: "My main job was to get this team to believe in themselves and they did and they took away a game that they were not better in for most of the game."

"We did not play our best game today of the seven that we played but unquestionably what we did do that we said we would before the game and at half-time was play with heart and soul."

France

Guard Tony Parker: "There's little to say, we had our chances and we didn't make them. It's frustrating, we will have to look at the video and see where we went wrong. Russia are a good team, they played well and they made the most of the chances."

Coach Claude Bergeaud: "Congratulations to the Russian team. We played this game with a great conviction tonight. It was a close and tough game, and in this case for sure it's very important to score easy baskets especially free throws. J. R. Holden took a great decision to go to the basket and draw the foul."

Forward Boris Diaw: "Tough game. I think we played pretty good, just in the end we didn't do what it takes to win the game. Missed free throws is part of the game, we just need to work on that for the future. Whoever we are going to play we want to win anyways. We knew Russia won't be the same team that we easily beat in preperation a few weeks ago."

Russia hope being back on Spanish soil will help them break their run of bad luck and make it to the last four of the EuroBasket for the first time in 10 years when they face France in today’s first quarter-final.

The Russians came in third back in 1997 when the competition was last held in Spain, but have since failed to reach the final four and instead saw their results get gradually worse.

They finished fifth two years in 1999, sixth two years later and have not done better than eighth in the last two tournaments.

As for France, they will try to make it back to the semi-finals after reaching that stage of the competition in Belgrade two years ago with a win over then defending champions Lithuania.

Last month, these two teams met in a warm-up game with France cruising to a 92-56 win in Paris.

		Florent Pietrus will be called on to help slow down Russia's pair of Kirilenko and Khryapa

However, it’s doubtful that today’s encounter will result in a one-sided affair like that.

Last Time Out: Russia beat Croatia 83-70 while France cruised past Turkey 85-64.

Key Match-up: Andrei Kirilenko and Victor Khryapa v Boris Diaw and Florent Pietrus. These are four of the most athletic and versatile forwards in the tournament so far and it will be interesting to see what duo comes out on top. The Russian pair could be fresher than their French as they had yesterday off. Diaw played 28 minutes and led the way with a team-high 18 points against Turkey yesterday, but he needed a game like he had yesterday against Turkey – finishing with a team-high 18 points – while Claude Bergeaud took a good precaution in not playing Pietrus at all.

Key Statistics: Thanks to the likes of J.R Holden, Kirilenko and Khryapa, David Blatt's side leads all teams in assists per game (15.2). France meanwhile are third from bottom in that category averaging less than 10 (9.7).

X Factor: France’s third string center Pape Badiane had 12 points and five rebounds in only 13 minutes of play against Turkey. It will be interesting to see if coach Claude Bergeaud was impressed enough by that performance to see him play a key role against Russia’s big men Aleksey Savrasenko and Nikita Morgunov.

Speaking Out: “Against France, we need to control the tempo, we need to control the game like we did well in the second half against Croatia. When we’re relaxed, when we lose our concentration, we’re not at our best. In recent years, we’ve played well in the group stages of the competition but we didn’t do well when we got to the quarter-finals. We need to break that bad habit." - Russia forward Andrei Kirilenko.