Published: 21 September, 2009, 11:12
Edited: 21 September, 2009, 07:31
Spain destroyed Serbia 85-63 to claim their first-ever EuroBasket gold medal in 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 have underlined their status as the dominant side on the European continent.
Los Angeles Lakers star Pau Gasol became the best player of the final, scoring 18 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks – all game highs. The Spanish giant was also voted MVP of the whole tournament.
Serbia had won the first meeting between the two sides, 66-57, on the opening night in Warsaw. However, it was a different story in the final on Sunday.
The game was decided right in the beginning. 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 reestablish domination of the contest.
“This is an amazing feeling,” said Pau Gasol.
“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,” he added.
Meanwhile, Greece edged Slovenia 57-56 to claim bronze; France beat Croatia 69-62 for fifth place; while Russia saved some grace by tearing Turkey apart 89-66 for seventh. Although they didn’t qualify directly for next year’s World Champ in Turkey, David Blatt’s men are now hoping for one of the four wild cards. The sport’s governing body FIBA will announce their choice in mid-December.