J.R. Holden's jumper with 2.1 seconds left secured Russia their first-ever EuroBasket title with a thrilling 60-59 victory over reigning world champions and hosts Spain.

Pau Gasol had a chance to win the game at the buzzer but his mid-range jumpshot went in and out, leaving Spain to collect their sixth European silver medal.

		It was J.R. Holden who delivered the final blow for Russia, hitting a jumper with two seconds left.

Andrei Kirilenko collected Most Valuable Player honours for the tournament after collecting 17 points, five rebounds, two assists, one blocked shot and a steal with 59 seconds remaining.

That swipe led to a basket by Nikita Morgunov to pull Russia to within 59-58 with 43 seconds to play.

Holden grabbed his own steal with 28 seconds left against Gasol in the post.

The American-born guard shook himself open and launched a long jumper which hit the rim and came back down in.

The crown was Russia's first ever after the Soviet Union won 14 European gold medals. It was also their third medal overall following silver in 1993 and bronze in 1997.

Spain's silver medal goes with those from 1935, 1973, 1983, 1999 and 2003.

Holden finished with eight points while Aleksey Savrasenko scored 10 points and Victor Khryapa collected seven points, 12 rebounds, four assists, three steals and a blocked shot before fouling out with four minutes to go.

"Hopefully this will be the first of many titles. Spain are a great team, but we just played really well tonight," said Kirilenko. "We made Spain nervous and we played as a team. I might be the MVP but it's been a team effort all the way."

Gasol finished with 14 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots but the NBA superstar also missed five of eight foul shots in the fourth quarter (5-of-12 overall) and committed five turnovers.

"You must understand that today is a very sad day for us. I admit I wasn't at my best. But I take responsibilty for that," Gasol said. "On the last shot, I thought I saw the ball going in, maybe I should have taken another step forward."

Jose Calderon scored a team-high 15 points while Jorge Garbajosa added eight points and six rebounds.

While Russia started cold, the Spaniards got the crowd into the game with the three-ball.

Rudy Fernandez opened the scoring with a trey and Calderon followed suit with two triples

		José Calderón delivered for Spain with 15 points but will have to settle for silver.

in opening a 15-4 lead midway through the first period.

The Russians missed 11 of their first 13 shots - including five three-pointers - as they failed in their attempt to match the hosts from outside.

Sergey Monya did knock down a trey but Marc Gasol's five foul shots and Carlos Cabezas's buzzer-beating jumper re-established the 11-point advantage - 22-11 - after one period.

After falling behind 25-13, Russia buckled down on defense in holding Spain scoreless for more than three minutes and cutting the deficit to 25-19.

The Spanish bombers struck again though as threes by Calderon, Carlos Jimenez and Pau Gasol kept Pepu Hernandez's team ahead 34-25.

The Russians again held Spain scoreless for three minutes and fought to within 34-31 at half-time on Anton Ponkrashov's foul shots with six seconds in the half.

Spain drew a number of fouls early in the third period and found themselves in the bonus with 6:51 to play in the quarter.

They failed to take advantage of it until Kirilenko was charged with this fourth foul and had to be taken out at the 2:32 mark of the third. Jimenez's two foul shots made it 49-41.

Russia refused to give up and continued to work hard defensively and Khryapa's trey had Russia down just 49-46 going into the fourth.

Zakhar Pashutin tied the game at 49-49 with a long bomb and Holden gave Russia their first lead 51-49 on a driving lay-up with 9:02 left.

Spain eventually pulled away on Pau Gasol's inside basket for a 59-54 lead but Gasol missed the chance for a three-point play and Kirilenko came back down to hit two foul shots with 1:17 left to set up the last minute heroics.

Russia

Coach David Blatt: "Khryapa was the secret of our success. Thank you first of all to my two great stars – Kirilenko and Khryapa. Both of them they are wonderful people as well as they are great players. We wanted to stay in the game the whole time. In the scouting we spoke about that first - stay close and make them feel the pressure. They felt the heat and we took advantage of it."

"This is an ultimate moment in the history fo the Russian nation. It's the first championship of the new Russia. I'm very proud to be the person in charge of this historical journey. I feel very lucky to be part of history both in Russia and FIBA Europe basketball."

"We did not want to double team Gasol a lot. We did doubling late after two dribbles just not to allow him to go close to the basket, but we did a great job against Calderon, and he didn't play as good as he did in the last game against us. We played a lot of match up zone and didn't allow Gasol to get the ball close to the rim. We wanted to put him on the line and it worked. Holden stopped in the last three days – Tony Parker, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Jose Calderon and people should acknowledge that."

Forward Andrei Kirilenko: "It was a challenge to play not only against five guys but also against 15,000 fans here and millions following at home. We were kinda down at the start but stayed together."

"The Spanish team is one of the best in the world, but tonight we were a little bit better as a team. I'm really happy we have a very good t-e-a-m and they can play without me. Everybody can help each other and stay as a team seperately. This is my best achievement in the whole career. It's the best team I ever played in. All my team-mates are also my best friends. We grew up and studied together. We were coached by the same coaches. I know Viktor for 10 years. Some of them for 15 years since school. Now we are the happiest kids in the world."

"He's a great coach. I can say for the whole team we have great pleasure to talk with him from the start. In every game we help each other. Not only the players, but also in the coach. When we have a problem we come to him. Sometimes he goes to us and ask us what is our opinion to find the solution. I salute him for this."

Spain

Coach Pepu Hernandez: "This team is a very important team. This group of team doesn't only play good basketball but they also set an example. For me they are without doubt the best team in the history of Spain."

"Of course nobody will settle for a silver medal, but that's not going to console the team. The coaching staff did a great job. We continue to believe we can compete with anyone. Perhaps a few days from now we can see things differently, and see we have a great future ahead of us."

"The team has to follow a certain direction, and we have established that. I don't think we deserve to take steps back. We still want to improve, even day to day, no matter if a player is old or young. There were critical moments and all the time I tried to keep the team with their feet on the ground, and be prepared for the competition. Of course I'm gong to think about all the mistakes, and having mistakes is natural."

When Russia take on Spain in Sunday's EuroBasket final, European basketball will witness a true David (Blatt) and Goliath showdown.

Russia's aim before this year's EuroBasket was to qualify for the Olympics.

For tournament hosts Spain however, only a gold medal was acceptable after claiming

		Pau Gasol and Spain will have to limit the damage done by Kirilenko.

silver on five previous trips in this event.

Spain, by virtue of their world title triumph over Greece last year in Japan, booked a place at next year's Beijing Games.

Because of past near-misses in EuroBaskets and with this year's tournament being staged in Madrid, the European Championship has remained hugely important for the team, the federation and fans.

Russia will have no pressure on them when they run to the court for the final time on Sunday at the Palacio de Deportes.

"We are in the Olympic Games and that was our goal," said Andrei Kirilenko.

"They are the hosts, we can play great and we need to pick it up ourselves and play the same kind of defense as tonight, if we do, we will be fine."

Last time out: Spain defeated Greece 82-77 and Russia beat Lithuania, 86-74.

Key Match-up: Andrei Kirilenko v Pau Gasol. Lithuania got steamrolled by Andrei Kirilenko on Saturday and the dynamic Russian forward will need to have similar success against Spain and particularly, Gasol for David Blatt's team to capture gold.  Gasol has played his best at the EuroBasket in the big games and even with Kirilenko lurking around the basket on defense, expect Spain's big man to be his number one option on offense.

Key Stats: Spain committed 16 turnovers against a terrific Greek defense on Saturday but they were on fire from three-point range, making 11 of 22 (50%) from long range.
Spain were superior shooting the ball in their 81-69 triumph over Russia earlier in the tournament while they also outrebounded them. 33-30.

X-Factor: Petr Samoylenko and Nikolai Padius had solid games against Lithuania and they will also have to be at their best against the Spanish backcourt for Russia to have a chance.

Speaking out: "I just think of the Old Testament and Israel where I come from, David and Goliath that's the story. Will see how it goes, if we find a sling shot and manage to knock them down then we will be the winners. It's going to be a tough game." Russia coach David Blatt.