Gasol fuels Spain's comeback

WARSAW, Poland – Pau Gasol scored nine of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter to carry world champion Spain past Britain, 84-76, on day two Tuesday of the European basketball championship.

After dropping their tournament opener to Serbia a day earlier, the Spaniards started strong against Britain, jumping to a 12-0 lead behind seven points from Gasol.

But Britain refused to go away, and in the fourth quarter went on a 12-0 run, capped by a Mike Lenzly three from the corner, that gave the British their first lead at 68-66 with 6:32 to play.

Then Gasol took over.

The center scored on a put back, hit a free-throw and then a three pointer to put Spain back in front for good at 74-73, and put the world champion back on track in its quest for a first European title.

“We kept our nerves under control and we also hit some important shots and played some good defense,” coach Sergio Scariolo said. “We stay alive and stay in the competition.”

Earlier, Germany upset defending champion Russia, 76-73, behind 19 points and 11 rebounds from Jan-Hendrik Jagla.

Russia, which only has three players from the team that upset Spain in the 2007 final, fell behind early and trailed by double digits for most of the game, before narrowing the gap to 68-67 on two free throws from forward Nikita Kurbanov with just under two minutes to play.

But Heiko Schaffartzik hit a three-pointer for Germany, which held on for its first win in Group B. Germany is without NBA star Dirk Nowitzki.

Russia also clearly missed the top two players from its 2007 squad – guard J.R. Holden and Andrei Kirilenko. But the Russians lost on Tuesday at the line, where they hit just 28 of 49 free throws.

“I don’t know what to say about the free throws,” said Russia coach David Blatt. “Sometimes it’s contagious. If you see one guy miss, others miss as well.”

In Group C, a young Serbia looked nothing like the squad that stunned Spain on Monday, falling to a hot-shooting Slovenia, 80-69.

Serbia coach Duzan Ivkovic said his team struggled after two early fouls on captain Nenad Krstic.

“We lost the chemistry and the balance under the basket,” Ivkovic said. “From that moment, the Slovenian team was absolutely dominant.”   In other action, traditional power Lithuania continued to struggle, losing to host Poland, 86-75.

Forward Maciej Lampe led five Polish players in double figures with 22 points and 10 boards, while center Marcin Gortat added 15 points and 17 rebounds.

Turkey also remained undefeated in the group, pounding Bulgaria, 94-66.

Also, point guard Tony Parker scored 23 points to lead France past Latvia, 60-51, and atop Group B with two wins. (AP)