And the EuroBasket 2009 winner is...Spain!!

Spain ran away from Serbia 85-63 to claim the 2009 EuroBasket crown. the win completed a mid tournament reversal of fortunes for the Spanish squad after early tourney jitters and poor play. Greece edged Slovenia 57-56 for third place while France topped Croatia 69-62 for fith placing and Russia slammed Turkey 89-66 for seventh. Here are the final day match reports from Poland via http://www.eurobasket2009.org.

Seventh Place Game:

Russia Rebound to End On High Note

Game Summary

Turning Point: After Russia used eight three-pointers to open a 14-point mid-second quarter gap, Fridzon drained two more and three foul shots in a 12-2 third quarter spurt as Russia surged ahead 63-47. Turkey did not get closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Hero: Fridzon hit one big shot after another the entire game and gave his teammates confidence in their shooting as well.

Stats: Russia made 16 of 24 three-pointers in the game.

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Russia rebounded from their disappointing loss in the final qualifier for the 2010 FIBA World Championship to knock off Turkey 89-66 to claim seventh place at EuroBasket 2009.

Vitalii Fridzon buried seven three-pointers in scoring 26 points and leading five Russians in double figures in Russia's final game as 2007 reigning champions.

Anton Ponkrashov had 16 points, nine assists and four rebounds. Aleksey Zozulin also each had 16 points, Nikita Kurbanov added 13 while Sergey Monya chipped in 11 points in helping Russia shoot 16 of 24 from long range.

"This was a great finish. That was the Turkish national team. We beat them bad. And that's a good team. They came to win. They didn't want to lose. We played a great game. We got a great performance from just about everybody," said Blatt, whose team must now hope for a wild card to play next summer in Turkey.

"I felt this was an excellent performance, a very respectful showing and something to look forward to for the national team. That is what I had hoped."

Turkey finished eighth with four straight losses to close the tournament despite 24 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks by Omer Asik. Semich Erden added nine points in a losing effort.

"We finished our competition in eighth place. We fought, we were ready to go. We played the first five games very well, but losing the other games was very hard," said Turkish coach Bogdan Tanjevic.

"We lost ambition to play down the stretch. We finished under the level we wanted to. But overall I am satisfied with the performance of this team."

Asik scored four points in helping Turkey jump out ahead 9-0 in the first three minutes. But Russia used the long ball to get back into the game and build a lead.

Zozulin and Fridzon both nailed two three-pointers in the middle of a 23-7 run for a 23-16 lead. And Zozulin's three-point heave from about 30 feet went in at the buzzer for a 26-18 advantage after one quarter.

The Russian barrage continued in the second half with Zozulin and Fridzon both hitting again and Anton Ponkrashov joining the party with a triple to make it 37-23.

Engin Atsur hit a long ball of his own to bring Turkey back into the game and Asik scored eight points the rest of the quarter as the Turks closed within 51-40 at the break.

Turkey scored the first five points out of the locker room but Fridzon sandwiched triples around a Sergey Monya three-ball and then made three foul shots to extend the lead to 16 points, 63-47.

Turkey answered with the next eight points but still trailed 68-59 after three periods.

Asik refused to let Turkey go down without a fight scoring six points in the fourth quarter. But the Russians were just too motivated and too hot from long range with Fridzon nailing two more treys in the fourth quarter. And the lead swelled to 23 points.

20 September 2009 Quotes Turkey vs. Russia David Blatt (Russia Coach): "We came here as a champions, but we didn't come here with the same team. Only three players were here comparing to last year's Olympic Games and all were non-starters there. That's why I called Kelly McCarty and asked him for a personal favor. He agreed to help us and he led a young and inexperienced team to an excellent performance." Kelly McCarty (Russia): "We wanted to continue a good performance from yesterday's match and to finish strong this tournament. Coach prepared us really well for this game and every player stepped in today and contributed. We won and for me playing here for Russian national team was a great experience." Bogdan Tanjevic (Turkey Coach): "So we finished this tournament in eighth place. I thought we were ready to take one of the medals, but when we lost to Greece in the Quarte-Finals after overtime, we lost ambition to continue. We also had an injury problem. At the end I can't be happy with the final result, but I'm generally satisfied with the performance of our team." Baris Hersek (Turkey): "I want to thank the hosts for a good work with the organization of this championship. We started this tournament really good, but it stopped after the Quarter-Final game. Hopefully next year, with the support of our fans, we will finish in a medal position."

Fifth Place Game:

France Finish Fifth

Game Summary

Turning point: With under three minutes left to play, Yannick Bokolo drove baseline and fed a cutting Nicolas Batum for a double-pump dunk and a 65-56 lead. Special mention for Diot's banked halfcourt three-pointer that beat the second quarter buzzer and gave France a 34-24 advantage at the break.

Hero: Antoine Diot and Nando de Colo, With Vincent Collet resting key players such as Tony Parker, Florent Pietrus and Ronny Turiaf, the young guns stepped up and finished with 18 and 15 points respectively.

Stats: France hit nine of 18 three-points attempts. Diot was four of seven from beyond the arc.

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France held off Croatia for a 69-62 win to take fifth place at EuroBasket 2009 in Katowice on Sunday.

Antoine Diot scored 18 points and Nando de Colo added 15 as the French used a 9-0 run in the first quarter to break a 9-9 score and they did not relinquish the lead the rest of the way.

Davor Kus had 18 points for Croatia, who made several runs but could never edge in front as France made key baskets to put an end to their spurts.

Both teams had already secured their places in next year's World Championship in Turkey on Saturday with Vincent Collet's men beating Turkey while Jasmin Repesa's side outlasted Russia.

Therefore, both coaches used this game as a chance to rest some key players and let others showcase their skills.

Tony Parker, Boris Diaw (sprained ankle) and Florent Pietrus did not play for France, while Roko-Leni Ukic (groin injury), Zoran Planinic and Mario Stojic sat out for Croatia.

Marin Rozic buried a three-pointer to tie the game at 9 before de Colo - who had 12 points in the opening quarter - and Diot combined for nine unanswered points.

Marko Popovic ended the spurt with a short jumper and Rozic made a free-throw to cut the deficit to 18-12, but De Colo converted a three-point play in the closing seconds of the period for a 21-12 advantage.

Croatia came back in the second period, using an 8-0 run to get within 23-22 on Sandro Nicevic's basket with 3:44 to go before the break.

Diot then hit a three-pointer to end a scoreless drought of almost four minutes for France but the Croats stayed close after Mario Kasun made two free-throws for 25-24.

Les Bleus pulled away once more as they accounted for the last nine points of the first half. Some good ball movement led to an Ian Mahinmi dunk before Batum hit a pair of foul shots.

Diot then closed out the second quarter in style, burying a wing three-pointer and then banking a halfcourt shot that beat the half-time buzzer to give France their first double-digit lead, 34-24.

Collet's side extended their lead to 41-27, when Diot hit his fourth long bomb midway through the third quarter. They had their biggest lead of the game, 46-31, when De Colo buried a long bomb from the corner, but Croatia scored the last 10 points of the period to cut the deficit to 46-41 on Kus' three-pointer in the closing seconds.

The Croats made it 14 unanswered points when Banic and Kus scored the first four points of the final quarter to get within one, 46-45. France responded by scoring nine of the next 12 points courtesy of Ali Traore, Yannick Bokolo and Nicolas Batum.

Repesa's men did not relent and closed within 60-56 when Kresimir Loncar converted a three-point play with just under four minutes remaining.

Once again though, France answered right back as Batum connected from beyond the arc. Bokolo then drove baseline and fed the cutting Portland Trailblazers swingman for a double-pump dunk and a 65-56 lead and that pretty much wrapped up the win for Les Bleus.

20 September 2009 Quotes France vs. Croatia Jasmin Repesa (Croatia Coach): "It was a hard game for us, because it followed two very important matches we had - against Slovenia in the Quarter-Finals and yesterday against Russia, when we won and qualified for World Championship. I had less players available today, so our rotation was shorter than usual and it's difficult to play like this against such an athletic team as France." Roko-Leni Ukic (Croatia): "It was a hard match, mostly because this game had no importance. Some teammates today got more minutes than usual because of a shorter rotation. Before tournament started we definitely expected more, but we made progress and advanced to World Championship for next year. It was a very tough championship, because teams were very equal. We had our chance to do more in the Quarte-Final game, but we didn't take it." Vincent Collet (France Coach): "We played today without Boris Diaw and Tony Parker, and Ronny Turiaf played for only nine minutes. But other players did their best, worked hard and once again showed the spirit of our team. We gave our best here, but unfortunately we had to play against Spain in the Quarter-Finals. We also didn't play well that game. We have to keep working hard and try to improve our game, especially offensively." Ian Mahinmi (France): "It feels great to finish this campaign with a win. We had a great chemistry on the team here. For me playing here was something new, it's a different game, different referees and you just have to try and adjust to it."

Bronze Medal Game:

Greece Capture Bronze

Game Summary

Turning point: It wasn't the best night for Nikos Zisis, who got in early foul trouble, but the winning plays came from his hands. Up by two with less than a minute to play he missed a jumper that could have given Slovenia the upper hand, but quickly recovered with an offensive board, and later on the play kicked out a pass to Antonios Fotsis who scored a three ball to set the margin on five, with 31 seconds on the game clock. Enough for a Bronze Medal.

Hero: Schortsanitis came off the bench early after Ioannis Bouroursis got in early foul trouble, and from the minute he stepped on court he was the dominating force under the boards. He scored 23 points and drew 12 fouls to carry his team to the podium.

Stats: After several good shooting nights Slovenia lost their accuracy tonight. They hit only 30% of their field goals and wrote a tournament low of 56 points.

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60 years after winning their first, and last, bronze medal the Greek team will take the podium tonight in the third position after edging Slovenia 57-56 in the bronze medal game on Sunday in Katowice.

This is the second time Greece will go home with a medal in the last four years after winning the gold at EuroBasket 2005.

Nick Calathes saw significant minutes for Greece, with a team-high three assists in 22 minutes.

Slovenia came close to capturing a historical moment and winning their first ever EuroBasket medal, but will have to settle for the fourth and respect will have to do in place of a medal.

"For us it's an amazing result," said the Greek guard Nikos Zisis.

"When we came here nobody gave us a chance to win a medal, so I'm very happy to go back home with the bronze."

Zisis got in early foul trouble, and wasn't at his best, but did get a chance to take part in the winning plays.

His offensive rebound, following a big kick out pass to Antonios Fotsis made the difference between a possible Slovenian lead, and a five point margin in favor of Greece with 31 seconds in the game.

Greece led throughout the last three quarters, but Slovenia never allowed them to get too far ahead.

Jaka Lakovic, in a big fourth quarter, brought his team within touching distance, but never more.

He scored a team high of 16 points, 13 of them coming in the last quarter.

Vasilis Spanoulis had his worst shooting night in the tournament with only three points and one made shot in 11 attempts, but kept leading his team even when things didn't work out.

After Spanoulis missed twice from the free throw line, it was Bostjan Nachbar who missed a desperate three-point attempt with the buzzer to spark the Greek celebration.

Both teams carried fatigue from the enormous effort they have put in the last few days, and it showed in the shooting percentage.

After several good shooting nights it was time for Slovenia to slow down as they settled for only 30% from the field.

Erazem Lorbek was struggling as well with 12 points on 28% from the field.

One of the main reasons was Sofoklis Schortsanitis who was everywhere on court today with 23 points, on 78% accuracy, six rebounds, two blocks and 12 drawn fouls.

"I've been working very hard," said the big Greek, "but the most important thing is that this is a great moment for a national team.

"To win a medal against the odds is a fantastic feeling."

Schortsanitis was the only Greek player to reach double-digits.

"I am very proud of my players," said Coach Jonas Kazlauskas.

"In this short time we did a great job with a new team that had only three players with experience at such a level."

Jaka Lakovic led Slovenia in scoring with 16 points.

Greece scored the first five points in the game but saw Ioannis Bourousis grab two quick fouls and take a seat on the bench, which hurt them down the road.

Nachbar hit twice in a row from distance, to even things out, but went silent after that only to feel a new power rising in Greece.

Schortsanitis, who took over for Bourousis, scored eight points without a miss in the first period, but Slovenia wasn't far behind with a 16-13 deficit after ten minutes.

Greece used the softness of Slovenia around the rim to score seven in a row and write a ten point lead, but a big drive by Uros Slokar, finished with a big dunk, stopped the run and put things in perspective again.

Zisis and Uros Slokar got in foul trouble with three each, before Erazem Lorbek led a small 5-0 run, to cut the margin to five and finish the break behind 31-24.

Greece continued to score inside and keep Slovenia far from the rim.

Today the three-pointers didn't fall in for Slovenia, until Lakovic fired his first and added a steal, followed by another arc bucket by Slokar to make it just a 38-33 game after 28 minutes.

Spanoulis didn't find his rhythm but Schortsanitis was there first with a big block on Lorbek and then on the offensive glass to connect two and calm things down for Greece.

Three turnovers in a row by Greece gave Slovenia a chance to finally tie or take the lead but missed shots and turnovers put a hold on that thought.

Schortsanitis was a dominant force on both ends and with a power move pushed the margin to five, 51-46 inside the last three minutes of the game, only to see Bourousis take his spot for the last two minutes of the game.

Lakovic scored from the perimeter to lift the thousand Slovenian fans to the dome with 2:03 to play, but that didn't last for long.

After missing a defensive board, Slovenia saw Fotsis score a catch-and-shoot three ball with 31 ticks on the clock, and make it a five point difference again.

It seemed like a done deal, but Lakovic had other plans. He scored a quick two from the line and added a big three to cut the margin to one, 57-56 to leave his team some hope for the last nine seconds, but that was the end of the dream.

20 September 2009 Quotes Greece vs. Slovenia Jonas Kazlauskas (Greece Coach): "I am very proud of my players, they did great in the short time we had. I had only three players here with experience at this level, but they still did a great job winning a bronze medal. Today's game wasn't maybe very nice for the fans, but it was a match where the result was the most important thing." Antonios Fotsis (Greece): "It was a very hard game. We usually struggle in this kind of game, because of the disappointment of being eliminated in the Semi-Finals. But this time the team was very focused in winning a bronze medal, and we got the result we wanted." Jure Zdovc (Slovenia Coach): "I want to congratulate Greece for their win. I also want to congratulate my players, because they found the energy after a very tough game last night. It was a great 14 days and we can be proud of our performance. With Dragic and Smodis we would be on a different level, but we'll have to wait and see, who will be available for us next summer." Uros Slokar (Slovenia): "Despite our injuries we went into the game against Greece brave and tough. Unfortunately we did not make it to the third spot and did not win any medal, but we must not forget that we made a step forward in comparison to the previous championship. I would like to say thank you to all our fans who supported us here. We could not have made it this far without you."

Gold Medal Game report:

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

Game Summary

Turning point: Spain had a 15-point first quarter lead and it was 24 points late in the first half before Serbia went on a 15-6 run in the third quarter to trim the margin to 58-44. But Spain answered with a 9-0 surge to re-establish domination of the contest.

Hero: Pau Gasol was unstoppable inside for the Spaniards as he out-rebounded Serbia by himself 8-7 in the first half. The star center dominated the paint at both ends.

Stats: Spain out-rebounded Serbia 44-23, including 18 offensive rebounds, while committing just nine turnovers and holding Serbia to 6 of 19 from long range.

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Spain tore apart Serbia 85-63 to capture their first-ever EuroBasket gold medal in Katowice, Poland on Sunday night.

World champions in 2006, silver-medal winners at EuroBasket 2007 in Madrid and runners-up to Team USA at last year's Olympics, the Spanish underlined their status as the dominant side on the continent.

On Sunday Juan Carlos Navarro finally got to hoist the EuroBasket trophy.

They will travel to Turkey next year for the FIBA World Championship as one of the gold-medal favorites.

Pau Gasol, who won an NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers in June, finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds and also blocked three shots - all game-highs.

"This is an amazing feeling," said the seven-footer, who was voted MVP of the EuroBasket.

"It's been an unbelievable year for me - first the NBA title and now a gold medal at the EuroBasket, something that we had never achieved before.

"We have played great and we truly deserve to enjoy this."

Serbia had won the first meeting between the two sides, 66-57, on opening night in Warsaw and they were sky high after edging Slovenia in overtime to reach the final.

Their coach, Dusan Ivkovic, had led the former Yugoslavia to three gold medals in as many finals.

But Spain entered the contest red hot, riding a four-game winning streak and they delivered a first-half knockout with a couple of decisive scoring surges.

With the game knotted at 5-5, Ricky Rubio buried a three-pointer right in front of the Spanish bench to ignite a 15-2 run.

Six different players contributed points in that scoring burst.

Serbia dug in their heels and fought back, twice reducing the deficit to eight points.

A Novica Velickovic jump shot closed the gap to 24-16 at the start of the second quarter and, after Marc Gasol tapped in Felipe Reyes' miss for Spain, Ivan Paunic and Velickovic each split a pair of free-throws to make it 26-18.

However, that proved to be as close as Ivkovic's team would get.

Led by Gasol, Spain blew the game wide open.

Spain answered with an electrifying 9-0 spurt that began when Raul Lopez penetrated into the lane and lofted an alley-oop pass that Pau Gasol grabbed with both hands to dunk.

After Rudy Fernandez made a pair of free-throws, he scored on a fast break and Reyes also scored in transition for a 34-18 lead.

Following two Uros Tripkovic free-throws, Spain grabbed a stranglehold on the game. Gasol, who missed two foul shots, made amends quickly when catching an alley-oop pass from Navarro and dunking again.

Rubio went to the charity stripe and made both attempts before Gasol scored down low for a commanding 40-20 advantage.

The final blow in the first half came after a Milos Teodosic three-pointer for Serbia with six seconds remaining.

Jorge Garbajosa quickly grabbed the ball and hurled a pass up the floor to a streaking Gasol who laid the ball in

Milos Teodosic struggled, scoring only five points, but was named to the All-Tournament team.

right before the buzzer for a 52-29 lead.

Serbia closed the gap to 58-44 with 3:22 to go in the third quarter, but Rudy Fernandez had two baskets on fastbreaks to spark a 9-0 run and take a 67-44 advantage heading into the final frame.

Kosta Perovic cut the deficit to 21 but Carlos Cabezas answered with a three-pointer and Serbia got no closer than 22 points the rest of the way. Spain's lead grew to 29 midway through the period.

Serbia did not win the gold medal yet they went much further than anyone expected and the disappointment was quickly forgotten.

"It was important for us to bring respectability back to Serbian basketball after what happened two years ago. We did that at this tournament," said Perovic.

Milenko Tepic predicted a bright future for this young Serbian team.

"Today was a tough game for us. We were still tired from last night's win over Slovenia. But the future is bright for us. We were the youngest team here and that means we will have a lot of time in years to come."

Pau's younger brother Marc thought Spain's success was that much sweeter as they had their share of troubles in the tournament.

"We struggled in this tournament, but that makes the gold medal even better," he said.

21 September 2009 Quotes Spain vs. Serbia Sergio Scariolo (Spain Coach): "It's a day we've been dreaming about since July. The most impressive thing is not that we did it, but how we did it, dominating the last few games. My players showed great professionalism, commitment and trust in this tournament. I want to thank also my coaching staff for their advice, as well as the Spanish federation, for letting me driving this Ferrari." Pau Gasol (Spain): "We are extremely happy with this outcome. For the last five and a half games we've been playing amazingly well. We worked very hard to win this championship and I am super proud of my teammates, as well coaching staff. We played this game exactly how we wanted - starting with intensity, confidence and just being happy to play basketball." Dusan Ivkovic (Serbia Coach): "The Spanish team was better tonight and they absolutely deserved this win. They are playing so many years together, which gives them a big advantage. I'm very happy and satisfied with our performance here, I can say that we won a medal earlier than we expected it to happen. Today I think for the first time my players felt the pressure of the final game. For example we rebounded the ball only seven times during the first half, compared to 24 for Spain. The other reason was that our bench players didn't help us tonight as they did in previous games." Nemanja Bjelica (Serbia): "Spain deserved their victory, they controlled the game for the full 40 minutes. Our goal here was to qualify for the World Championships in Turkey, we did it, and we also a silver medal. Everybody in Serbia is satisfied and we are satisfied too."