France, Italy advance to second round of Eurobasket

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After France and Italy won both of their respective Eurobasket games on Monday, the two teams returned to the floor Tuesday in their final games of the first round.

France looked like a totally different team after one half Tuesday, as they were the ones chasing Belgium for 20 minutes of the game (down 46-34 by halftime). However, France used a strong defensive and offensive explosion in the second half to outscore Belgium 48-19 to end the first round at 4-1 with an 82-65 victory over Belgium.

San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker led France with 20 points, 6 assists, and 3 rebounds in 25 minutes. Spurs forward Boris Diaw added 12 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds while guard Nando De Colo finished with 7 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Here are some of the highlights from France's tale-of-two-halves victory.

Spurs guard Marco Belinelli did not play in Italy's final game of the first round but the Italians still managed to stay undefeated at 5-0 in Eurobasket with an 82-79 victory over Sweden.

Onto the second round of Eurobasket, France will face Lithuania (Wednesday) , Latvia (Friday), and Serbia (Sunday). Italy will take on Slovenia (Thursday), Croatia (Saturday), and Spain (Monday).