LJUBLJANA, Slovenia -- Spain and France will meet in the semifinals of the European basketball championships in a rematch of their gold medal game two years ago.
[b]Jason Grilli Jersey[/b] . Spain won that final and is seeking to become the first team to win three straight European titles since Yugoslavia in the 1970s. Two-time defending champion Spain took a big early lead and routed Serbia 90-60 in Wednesdays first quarterfinal. Tony Parker then scored 27 points to lead France 72-62 past host Slovenia. "We havent done anything yet," Parker said. "Its a big win for sure but our team has other goals. We want a medal and we still dont have it." Point guard Sergio Rodriguez scored 22 points and forward Rudy Fernandez went 4 for 4 from the 3-point range in adding 19 points for Spain. Spain has won gold or silver at every major competition since it captured the 2006 world title, except for the 2010 worlds when it finished sixth. The Spaniards won silver medals at the past two Olympics. France went on a 10-0 run at the start of the third quarter and never looked behind again. Slovenia cut the deficit to five when Domen Lorbek made a 3-pointer at the buzzer of the third quarter and Lorbek made it a three-point game at the start of the fourth. But Parker had a jumper and Nando de Colos layup restored his teams 10-point lead with just under six minutes remaining in the game. "We all played good defence and we moved the ball well in the attack, we were able to put Tony in position," de Colo said. Goran Dragic, who finished with 18 points, made two free throws to get his team within seven with 1:21 remaining. Parker had two turnovers late in the game, but he cut inside to score with a layup and made one of two free throws to make it a 10-point game again with 41 seconds remaining. Spain led by as many as 40 points at one stage in the first of the quarterfinals and made 13 of 25 attempts from beyond the arc. "It was our best game of the tournament so far," Spain coach Juan Orenga said. "Our goal is to grow during the tournament and win the gold medal." Spain had struggled through the first two rounds, losing three of eight games. But it may have been saving its best for the most important games. "We played aggressive, it was time to show everybody what we can do," Spain point guard Ricky Rubio said. Serbia struggled at the start and Spain quickly pulled away. Serbia went 1 for 11 from the field in the first quarter. "Our hands were just tied. Most of us had never played against a rival so strong as Spain," Serbia guard Nemanja Nedovic said. "They got a big lead early." By the time Serbias defence began to show signs of life, Spain had a comfortable double-digit lead and finished the first quarter with a 16-point lead. "We prepared very seriously for this game, we knew we had to play with energy from the start," said Rubio, who had six rebounds, six assists and four steals to go with five points. Rodriguez made a 3-point play, Serbia turned the ball over and Marc Gasol hit a jumper and put Spain up by 23. The lead grew to 43-17 when Fernando San Emeterio made another jumper. Pablo Aguilar made a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to leave Spain ahead by 25 at 48-23. Victor Claver scored the first seven points of the second half and Sergio Llull added a 3 as Spain dominated the Serbs, putting together a 10-0 run. It took Serbia 4:30 to score its first points of the third quarter, but soon it was 69-29 and a 40-point game. "It was a shame how we played today," said Serbias captain Nenad Krstic, who only played 13 minutes after being double-teamed by the aggressive Spanish defence. "Usually our outside shooters can compensate, but we didnt have our shot today." "We are a young team and we certainly lacked experience today," Krstic said. Serbia has nine newcomers with no experience of a major event. The Serbs play Slovenia on Thursday in the playoffs for places five to eight, with the winner qualifying for next years World Cup in Spain. The top seven teams will all qualify for the tournament, with Spain holding a direct slot as host. Serbia lost the 2009 final to Spain, was fourth at the 2010 world championship, but then flopped at the Europeans two years ago and failed to qualify for the London Olympics last year.
[b]Nomar Mazara Jersey[/b] .A. Happ is coming off his first start of the year, a win at Philadelphia Monday. The former Phillie allowed three hits in five scoreless frames of a 3-0 triumph.
[b]Custom Texas Rangers Jerseys[/b] . It was considered unlikely that Rielly would be loaned to Canada for the tournament, which begins Dec. 26 in Malmo, Sweden, though a stretch of three straight games in the press box made it something of a debate.LONDON -- American striker Juan Agudelo has been denied a work permit in Britain, a decision that blocks his planned move to Premier League club Stoke in January. Agudelo signed a preliminary agreement in August to join the English club when his contract with the New England Revolution expires. However, Stoke chief executive Tony Scholes told British media this week that the forwarrds application for a work permit had been denied.
[b]Cole Hamels Jersey[/b]. Stoke manager Mark Hughes told Sky Sports News on Friday that "we are really disappointed with the decision," but that Agudelo had not played the required amount of international matches. The 20-year-old Agudelo was born in Colombia but has played 17 games for the United States national team.
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