France grab third place with win over Lithuania

French forward Michael Gelabale (2-R) and his teammates pose with their bronze medals France finished on the podium of a FIBA's main event for the first time as they beat Lithuania 95-93 on Saturday to grab third place at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup. In a re-match of the 2013 EuroBasket final, Nicolas Batum scored a team-high 27 points for the reign European champions France while Joffrey Lauvergne and Thomas Heurtel both added 13 points. France made nine of 10 free throws in the final 15.2 seconds to secure the victory. France secured their best showi at the Worlds, moving up one spot from their fourth place performance in 1954. Lithuania came into the game hoping to repeat their third place from 2010, when they beat Serbia. But 25 points and nine rebounds from Jonas Valanciunas and 14 from Adas Juskevicius were not enough. Lithuania started cold and France jumped ahead 7-2. A 7-0 Lithuania run was answered by six straight France points and Les Bleus were up 13-9. They led 22-19. France got the lead back to five points at 34-29 and never trailed in the second quarter, going into the break up 43-42. Lithuania began to gain some separation in the third quarter, opening a 62-54 margin and leading 71-64 after 30 minutes. France used an 13-4 run to start the fourth quarter and grab the lead 77-75. Valanciunas scored five straight points to give the Baltic side the lead but two Boris Diaw baskets and two Heurtel free throws helped the French to an 86-80 lead inside the final minute. France stayed cool at the free throw line down the stretch to take third. The final between Serbia and the undefeated reigning champions United States will be played on Sunday.