HUESCA (Spain) - France sent a strong message less than two weeks before the start of the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024 as they downed Spain 71-62 on the final day of a friendly tournament in Spain where Lithuania defeated Germany 87-60.
France, Spain and Lithuania all finished the four-nation event in Huesca, Spain with 2-1 records while Germany lost all three games as they teams prepare for the FIBA U17 World Cup, which tips off on June 29 in Türkiye.
France, who claimed second place at the 2018 U17 World Cup and the third spot on the podium in 2022, showed why they are considered major challengers for the podium in Istanbul with the 71-62 victory over Spain.
Yannis Allard scored 20 points and Jonas Boulefaa collected 10 points and 10 rebounds. The French committed only 11 turnovers while shooting 45 percent on three-pointers.
Spain were held to just 41 percent shooting for the game and just four offensive rebounds. Miguel Gonzalez and Nicolas Gomez both had 11 points for Joaquin Prado's team.
France jumped out to a 12-0 lead over Spain and Lamine Kebe's team were ahead 22-16 after 10 minutes. Spain grabbed their first lead at 23-22 but France punched back with the next nine points and went to half-time ahead 35-29.
The advantage grew back to 10 points - 42-32 - but Spain answered with eight straight points. France however delivered another blow with a 13-2 surge to go up by 13 points and led 55-45 after 30 minutes. Spain conceded the first six points of the final frame and France's defense held strong, not allowing the home side get closer than eight points the rest of the way.
This was a strong step forward for France after they took a 13-point lead against Lithuania in the first game and ended up losing 82-74.
In the first game of the day, Lithuania started pulling away in the second quarter and dominated the second half in an 87-60 win over Germany, giving up just 23 points in the final 20 minutes.
Ernas Valauskas knocked down three of Lithuania's nine three-pointers for a team-high 13 points while Arturas Butajevas, Majus Bulanovas and Ignas Urbonas all scored 10 points and Dovydas Buika collected 8 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists in 20 minutes.
Tom Brüggemann had a team-high 13 points for Germany while star Declan Duru tallied 7 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists.
The four countries will now take the lessons they learned from the tournament and take the next step in their preparations for FIBA U17 World Cup. Spain and Lithuania will be playing in Group A, France are drawn into Group B and Germany will compete in Group D.
France have three more preparation games scheduled before the U17 World Cup, taking on Great Britain on June 21, China on June 22 and Germany again on June 23 - all three games in Saint-Julien-les-Villas.
FIBA