FIBA World Cup Round Of 16: France Holds Off Croatia

France weathered a furious comeback by Croatia in the fourth quarter Saturday in Madrid, holding on for a 69-64 win to advance to the FIBA World Cup quarterfinals.

France (4-2) led 46-34 entering the final 10 minutes and still led by nine, 65-56, with 1:31 to play after Florent Pietrus’ layup.

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But Croatia (3-3) clawed back. A 3-pointer by Bojan Bogdanovic of the Brooklyn Nets with 1:22 remaining cut it to 65-59 and Thomas Heurtel was only able to hit one of two from the foul line.

Krunoslav Simon then drained two free throws, cutting France’s lead to 66-61 with 1:05 to go, before Dario Saric picked off a pass from Heurtel and got the ball upcourt to Oliver Lafayette, who found Bogdanovic for another 3-pointer that made it a one-possession game, 66-64, with 52 seconds to play.

France took a timeout, but Antoine Diot missed a potential dagger 3-pointer with 37 seconds left.

Bogdanovic couldn’t find the range from 3-point land with 24 seconds left on a shot that would have given Croatia the lead.

Heurtel got another chance from the line with 16 seconds left, draining a pair to put France up 68-64. Croatia’s last chance to stay in the game bounced off the rim when Simon missed a 3-pointer with 12 seconds to go.

Nicolas Batum of the Portland Trail Blazers made the first of two free throws before missing the second. Simon missed a 3 and Lafayette couldn’t find the range after grabbing an offensive rebound and the clock ran out on Croatia in the World Cup.

The teams traded sluggish periods in the first half, with Croatia taking a 15-7 lead after the first quarter before France came back to lead 23-22 at the half.

Batum paced France with 14 points and had four steals. Evan Fournier of the Orlando Magic added 13 points, Mickael Gelabale had 11 points and six rebounds and Heurtel finished with 10 points. Boris Diaw of the San Antonio Spurs finished with five assists, but was 1-for-7 from the floor for just three points.

Bogdanovic led Croatia with 27 points. Ante Tomic added 17 points and Saric finished with seven rebounds, three steals and scored four points.

France advances to meet Spain in a Wednesday quarterfinal.