Spain’s Pau Gasol (centre) goes around France’s Rudy Gobert during their semi-final match at the EuroBasket 2015 in Lille, France, on Thursday. (AFP)

DPA/Lille, France


Pau Gasol turned in another magical performance with 40 points to lead Spain to an 80-75 overtime victory over hosts and reigning champions France to reach the EuroBasket 2015 final and book a ticket to the 2016 Rio Olympics.
In addition to scoring 40 points, Gasol collected 11 rebounds and three blocks while Sergio Rodriguez added 15 points as the 2009 and 2011 European champions will get a chance to add a third title to their trophy case.
“I loved our spirit. We are really all happy about the win and happy to be in the final with a chance to play for another gold,” Gasol said after the game.
“It was really hard fought for both teams, fought until the very end.  I’m very proud of my team for fighting through the ups and downs in the game.”
The Iberians’ opponents in the final will be determined on Friday when Serbia take on Lithuania in the second semi-final.
France were dethroned despite 14 points by Nicolas Batum, who missed all three free throws with 15.5 seconds remaining in overtime and France down three points. Nando De Colo scored 14 points while Rudy Gobert picked up eight points, 13 rebounds and two blocks in the loss.
“Of course we’re very disappointed that we lost. Not disappointed in the team or how we approached the game. Just disappointed that we will not play in the final in front of our fans,” said France captain Boris Diaw, who had 14 points and seven rebounds.
“Nobody is mad at Nico (Batum) for missing free throws at the end of the game. We should have been in a better position.”
The result was a matter of the tables being turned from a year ago.  Spain were hosting the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup and were overwhelming favourites to beat undermanned France in the quarter-finals en route to a date in the final with the United States. But it was France who won the game and ended up finishing third.
Gasol said the loss last summer was absolutely motivation to him for this game. “Yes it was motivation. It was tough to lose in the quarter-finals.
But they deserved it. They wanted it more. I wanted to win tonight.  It wasn’t pay back. It was just winning a very difficult game,” said the NBA star center.
This summer, Spain were the undermanned side as coach Sergio Scariolo was without leaders such as Marc Gasol, Jose Calderon and Serge Ibaka. And France was the team with all the superstars on board.
In the end, it was too much Pau Gasol, who made 12 of his 21 shots and 16 of 18 free throws.
Spain will be playing in the EuroBasket final for the fifth time in the last seven EuroBaskets.
In the classification games for fifth to eighth place earlier Thursday, Greece and Italy picked up victories to book their spots in next summer’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Greece bounced back from an upset loss to Spain in the quarter-finals and overcame a 17-point deficit to beat Latvia 97-90. Yannis Bourousis scored 20 points and Vasilis Spanoulis scored 16 points in their final games in a Greek uniform.
“The time has come to stop with the national team. The cycle has closed. I am really emotional right now. I grew up on the national team since I was 17 and I played for the flag all these years,” the 33-year-old Spanoulis told Greek TV station ANT1 after the game.
“It has been a career with happy moments, sad moments but also full of success. We brought back home three medals during my time and I am proud for what we have achieved.”
Long-time teammate Nikos Zisis also announced his retirement from the Greek national team.
Italy moved into the qualifiers next summer by knocking off Czech Republic 85-70 thanks to 21 points from Andrea Bargnani and 15 points each from Danilo Gallinari and Alessandro Gentile.
The Czechs and Latvia will square off in the game for seventh place, which secures the final spot from Europe in the qualifying tournament.