Spain crowned basketball champions of Europe
Monday, September 21, 2015 @ 4:17 PM
Spain beat Lithuania 80-63 in tonight's Eurobasket final, notching up their third European title in the last four championships in front of a record 27,372 crowd at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille.
Pau Gasol, with 22 points and 10 rebounds, was voted MVP (most valuable player) of the tournament for the second time in his career, and the team as a whole - with Rudy, Llull and Claver outstanding once again - proved why they have been a force to be reckoned with for the past 16 years.
No other team has won three European titles since the former Yugoslavia achieved the feat in 1973, 1983 and 1991.
Spain's defence, their Achilles heel in the opening phase of the tournament, turned into their passport to glory in the final which they dominated from start to finish. The Spaniards came out with all guns firing and a Gasol block on Maciulis set the scene for the match. Extraordinary defensive work gave the Lithuanian side few options on the court and Spain were already 19-6 up by the eighth minute.
The second quarter saw the Spanish side pick up where they had left off, with Rudy finding his rhythm in attack. Midway through the second quarter Lithuania had only netted five times in open play (27-14) and a renewed push by Mirotic and Gasol brought their opponents' defence to its knees (34-18, min 16). The Baltic side survived thanks to their successful counter-attacks, Spain's only weak point, and kept their hopes alive with a triple from Kalnietis, two from Seibutis and another from Maciulis (41-33, min 20).
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com