Sylvain Francisco fuels France victory over Portugal / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

In the Group E of FIBA 2023 World Cup Qualifiers, Portugal (0-4) suffered another defeat against France (4-0). The team coached by Vincent Collet made a great defensive job in the second half and in the end, won 69-56 (17-16, 17-19, 15-8, 20-13)

French big men helped the team in creating a nice lead in the final quarter with less than two minutes remaining in the game (65-56), which in the end was decisive for the win.

France reacted in a better way in the second half, Francisco had a really good third quarter and helped the team to find some offensive groove.

Just like in the previous game between the two teams, France struggled in the first half against the defensive pressure of Portugal. The team coached by Vincent Collet had 14 turnovers in the first 20 minutes. Also offensively France didn't produce enough and Portugal finished the first half up by one (37-36).

For France the top scorer was Amath M'Baye with 16 points (2/3 2PT, 2/6 3PT, 6/6 FT), 2 assists, and 14 PIR.

France: Amath M'Baye 16, Sylvain Francisco 15, Mathias Lessort 10 (6 REB)

Portugal: Rafael Lisboa 14, Sasa Borovnjak 11 (7 REB)

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