 Lithuania have won bronze at the last three Olympics |
Lithuania beat Spain to win the men's European Basketball Championships for the first time since 1939. Lithuania dominated the final, building up a 40-31 half-time lead and seeing off a brief rally by the Spaniards late in the fourth quarter.
Arvydas Macijauskas top scored for Lithuania with 21 points.
The victory gives both sides a place at next year's Olympics in Athens along with Italy, who defeated France 69-67 in a thrilling third-place play-off.
Tony Parker, who plays in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs, gave France a 64-63 lead with less than two minutes to go.
But Italy battled back and when Parker missed a last-gasp layup for France that would have tied the scores, it was Italy who claimed third place and the final Olympic berth.
In the fifth and sixth place pay-off, Nikolaos Chatzivrettas came off the bench to score 21 points for Greece in 72-64 win over Serbia and Montenegro.
As the reigning world champions, Serbia and Montenegro qualify automatically for the Olympics.
In the game for seventh and eighth place, Meir Tapiro scored 26 points for Israel as they beat Russia 89-82.
MMIX
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