VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP)—Pau and Marc Gasol combined for 46 points and 18 rebounds Friday to help Spain rout Serbia 84-59 and advance to the quarterfinals of the European Championship.
The brothers dominated in the paint, scoring 42 of their points from close range. In one stretch in the second quarter, Pau Gasol scored seven points and Marc Gasol added four in an 11-0 run.
Spain led by as many as 29 at one point.
“To hold a team that’s been scoring 80 to under 60 is a great achievement,” Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said. “We came in with great concentration and immediately established our high-tempo game. We are still not shooting that great, that’s the only problem.”
Serbia, which was led by Nenad Krstic’s 12 points, has lost three straight but can still advance if it beats Turkey in its final Group E game. Turkey is the only team to have beaten Spain at this year’s tournament.
Spain beat Serbia in the European final two years ago, but then lost to the Serbs in the world championship quarterfinals last year.
This time, it wasn’t a contest.
“They hurt us very badly and we didn’t defend as usual,” Serbia guard Stefan Markovic said. “Now we have to focus on the last game.”
Spain used all 12 players, and all scored. Serbia, however, played without guard Aleksandar Rasic, who missed the game with a back problem.
Milos Teodosic, the Serbia guard whose 3-pointer at the buzzer beat Spain at the worlds last year, was held to six points.
“We wanted to stop Teodosic and we did it,” Spain guard Jose Calderon said.
Other scores for the day:
Germany 73, Turkey 67
France 73, Lithuania 67
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