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Slovenia, Lithuania, Spain and Russia advance to quarters
BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro - Slovenia, Spain, Russia and defending champion Lithuania advanced to the quarterfinals of the European Championship on Sunday.
In Tuesday's playoffs to determine the other quarterfinalists, Serbia-Montenegro plays France, Germany meets Turkey, Greece faces Israel and Croatia takes on Italy. The four winners of each group advanced directly to the quarterfinals, while second- and third-place teams went into an additional playoff round to advance. Dirk Nowitzki's 3-pointer with 27 seconds left lifted Germany to a 51-50 win over Russia _ the only time Germany led in a game marked by poor shooting. Nowitzki, the Dallas Mavericks' All-Star, finished with 24 points and 19 rebounds. He shot 1-for-6 from 2-point range and 5-for-12 from beyond the arc. Russia's Andrei Kirilenko, of the Utah Jazz, had two key turnovers late in the game. Germany scored 16 points in the first half and was scoreless for the first six minutes of the third quarter. Russia struggled with its shooting and led by 10 before Nowitzki started hitting his shots. Nowitzki made two free throws to tie it at 45-all, but
Russia stayed just ahead until Kirilenko slipped on the dribble and turned the
ball over. Nowitzki drew a foul and made two free throws to cut Russia's lead to
50-48. Kirilenko again slipped and lost the ball and Nowitzki hit the winning
3-pointer.
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