France, Greece reach European Championship semifinals
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-23 10:06

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro - France beat defending champion Lithuania 63-47 Thursday to reach the European Championship semifinals behind Boris Diaw's 18 points and 11 rebounds and a strong game from Tony Parker.

The French will next play Greece, which defeated Russia 66-61 on 23 points by Theodoros Papaloukas. Greece advanced to the Euro semifinals for the first time since 1997.

In Friday's quarterfinals, Slovenia plays Germany and Croatia meets Spain.

Parker, the point guard for the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, finished with 11 points and five assists.

"I did everything with the Spurs, two rings," he said. "Now I want to do something with the national team."

France eliminated world champion Serbia-Montenegro in the previous round.

"With every new match we've picked up our game," said Diaw, who plays for the Phoenix Suns. "This was our fourth and this was our best."

Center Frederic Weis added 11 rebounds and five points for France while Antoine Rigaudeau scored 11 points.

France led 32-16 at halftime. Lithuania, usually a high-scoring team, missed all nine 3-point attempts.

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