French women’s and men’s teams on Wednesday achieved two wins each at the FIBA 3×3 Europe Cup in Jerusalem on their way to qualifying for the quarterfinals.
The women’s team, who will meet Portugal in the quarterfinals, won twice in the three-team Group A, 19-10 over Ukraine, with eight points and five rebounds by Marie-Eve Paget, and 20-10 over the Czech Republic, thanks to seven points each by Laetitia Guapo and Hortense Limousin.
The Czech Republic also advanced from the group, after a 21-17 win over Ukraine, and will meet Lithuania in the quarterfinals.
Lithuania finished first in Group C, after dramatically beating Portugal 15-13, with a winning two-pointer by Kamile Nacickaite in overtime, and Hungary 21-16, with Nacickaite shining again with 10 points.
Portugal moved to the next stage after beating Hungary 16-10.
Also in the quarterfinal stage, which will be held on Thursday, the Netherlands will play Germany and Italy will face Spain, as determined on Tuesday. The semifinals and final will take place later in the evening.
France won twice in the men’s competition as well, against Croatia 21-12, with Hugo Suhard contributing nine points for the win, and over the Netherlands 21-13, thanks to 11 points and seven rebounds by Leopold Cavaliere, advancing from Group C to meet Austria in the quarterfinals.
The Netherlands also progressed from Group C after a 21-13 win over Croatia and will play Serbia in the last eight.
Serbia pulled off two hard-fought wins to finish atop Group A. Strahinja Stojacic made a 2-point shot with four seconds left at the final buzzer to beat Austria 21-20, completing an 8-0 team run.
Serbia later also defeated Israel 22-19, with Nemanja Barac leading Serbia with eight points and seven rebounds. Austria also advanced after a 21-10 win over Israel.
In the other two quarterfinals of the men’s tournament, Latvia will play the Czech Republic and Lithuania will face Belgium.
