The Italian National Team fell to the French National Team 93-85 in overtime in EuroBasket play on Wednesday afternoon, Italy coming up short against the 2020 Tokyo silver medalists and their deeper reserve of NBA-caliber talent in the European Basketball Championship.
On the French side of things, former Boston Celtics shooting guard Evan Fournier put up 17 points, 3 rebounds, and as many assists in just over 33 minutes of play in the win, while ex-Boston big man Guerschon Yabusele joined him in adding 15 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, and 3 steals in a little less than 42 minutes of game time.
Fellow Celtics alum Vincent Poirier added a rebound, an assist, and a block in a little over 5 minutes of play.
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On Italy’s side, Boston forward alum Gigi Datome provided the Italian National Team with 12 points, 2 boards, an assist, a steal, and a block, but it wasn’t enough to get past France in the knockout stage of competition.
“Congratulations to France, they deserve the win,” said Datome via Eurohoops John Rammas.
“Today everyone will be sad and frustrated, but from tomorrow we have to be proud of ourselves because we show that we belong to the level of Serbia and France, which are the best teams in the world.”
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