2013 EuroBasket: France beat Slovenia to enter semifinals

France’s Tony Parker (Getty Images)

France eased past hosts Slovenia 72 – 62 to enter the semi-finals of the 38th edition of the FIBA Eur0Basket championships. The championships are ongoing at Slovenia.

In the second quarter-final of the championship, hosts Slovenia took the first quarter 12-10 while France took the second quarter 16-12. After the half-time break, France took the third and final quarter 24 – 21 and 22 – 17 respectively to enter the semi-finals of the championship. Goran Dragic netted 18 points for the hosts while Tony Parker netted a game-high 27 points for France.

France will play defending champions Spain, who had earlier thumped Serbia 90-60, in the semi-finals of the championship. With their entry into the semi-finals here, France also confirmed their ticket to the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Croatia will play Ukraine and Lithuania will face Italy in the two remaining quarter-finals.

The top six teams from the 2013 EuroBasket – excluding Spain, as they have already qualified as hosts – will get their tickets to the 2014 FIBA World Cup. 24 European nations are participated in the ongoing event.