Gasol guides Spain into EuroBasket quarter-finals with superb display in win over Slovenia

An outstanding performance from Paul Gasol fired Spain into the quarter-finals of EuroBasket 2015 ©FIBA

Paul Gasol’s outstanding 30-point fired Spain into the quarter-finals of EuroBasket 2015 as they claimed a hard-fought 80-66 victory over Poland in Lille.

The Spanish side, bronze medallists at the 2013 event, trailed by three points towards the end of the third period before they produced an ultimately-decisive 17-2 run to turn the contest on its head.

They managed to establish a 69-57 lead at the start of the fourth quarter and always looked like going on to win the match from that point on, with Gasol, who netted baskets from distance throughout the contest, the star performer.

The 35-year-old has his team-mates worried when he looked to have sustained an injury before the last 16 encounter had even got underway, but was unaffected during proceedings, producing an outstanding display to guide his team into the last eight.

Spain will go up against Greece, who last won the competition in 2005, in the quarter-finals after they cruised to a comfortable 75-54 success in their knockout clash with Belgium.

Image title — Greece proved too strong for Belgium as they reached the last eight with a 75-54 win ©FIBA

The Greeks finished the group phase of the tournament with five wins from five and were again in fine form, outplaying the Belgians from start to finish to prolong their participation in the event for at least another round.

Belgium did get to within three points of their opponents in the second period before Greece switched systems, which had the desired effect as they were able to open up a 65-42 advantage going into the final quarter.

That proved to be a match-winning margin as Greece then saw out a convincing victory to secure their berth in the last eight.

“We were all scoring evenly, that's what good teams do,” Greece’s Nick Calathes said.

“Any given player at any given time can have a big game for us and that's our mindset.”

Elsewhere, Latvia booked their place in the EuroBasket quarter-finals for the first time since 2001 as they overcame Slovenia with a 73-66 triumph.

Janis Strelnieks top scored for the Latvians with a haul of 17 points and he also chipped in with eight assists and six rebounds to help his team progress at the expense of an out-of-sorts Slovenia side.