France overcomes Italy in nail-biting overtime in Bologna / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: AFP – Scanpix Credit AFP – Scanpix

French national team prevailed over Italy behind Rudy Gobert and Vincent Poirier's strong performance with the final score of 78-77 (13-19, 23-17, 18-14, 15-19, 9-8) in overtime in a friendly game in Bologna.

With 5 seconds left in the overtime and France leading by one point (78-77), Guershon Yabusele got an offensive rebound after Gobert's missed free throw, Italy did not manage to foul and the game clock ran out.

In the last two minutes of the overtime, both teams struggled to score. With 1:48 left in the overtime, Yabusele made one of two free throws to give France a 3-point lead (78-75).

With 1:12 left in the overtime, Marco Spissu hit a couple of free throws to reduce the deficit to one point (78-77). That was the last points by either team in the game.

Danilo Gallinari tied the game (69-69) with a clutch 3-pointer with 23 seconds left in the fourth quarter. With two seconds left in the fourth quarter, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot had a chance for a game-winning shot but he missed a 3-pointer and the teams went into overtime.

It was a close game most of the night. Highest difference between the teams was in the second quarter when Italy led by 9-points after Nico Mannions 3-pointer (15-24), but then France responded with an 8-0 run (23-24) led by Elie Okobo who hit back-to-back 3-pointers.

For France, Vincent Poirier had a double-double with 14 points (4/6 2PT, 0/1 3 PT, 6/6 FT) and 13 rebounds.

The home team, Italy was led by Simone Fontecchio, who ended up with 24 points (5/9 2PT, 4/9 3 PT, 2/4 FT), 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 assist.

France: Rudy Gobert 15 (7 REB), Vincent Poirier 14 (13 REB), Guershon Yabusele 11, Elie Okobo 11;

Italy: Simone Fontecchio 24 (5 REB), Danilo Gallinari 13, Niccolo Mannion 9, Marco Spissu 8 (5 REB, 4 AST), Stefano Tonut 8.

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