EuroBasket roundup: France through to semis, Pontika powers Poland past Slovenia
France - Italy 93-85 (OT)
Rudy Gobert scored 19 points and made 14 rebounds to lead France to a tight and tense quarter-final victory over Italy by eight points.
The Minnesota Timberwolves star was imperious, causing mayhem for the Italian defenders throughout the last eight tie.
In a relatively low-scoring affair compared to yesterday's games, France led 27-20 after the first quarter. But, just 22 points were scored in the second, shared equally between the teams, as they struggled to gain any momentum in the German capital.
Italy then rallied in the third, outscoring the French by 13 points, before Gobert and company forced overtime.
With free throw points now the main source for both teams, Gobert was again in amongst it, netting late as France took advantage of a tired-looking Italy side to settle the game 93-85 - a scoreline that was much closer until the dying moments of this game.
Check out the stats from Wednesday's game with Flashscore.
Slovenia - Poland 87-90
Poland's Pontika was the hero of the night, sealing a nervy win over a Luka Doncic-led Slovenia, as he scored 26 points, hit 16 rebounds and had 10 assists to lead his side into the final four.
With the first quarter level pegging, Poland grew their advantage to 19 points at the half. Slovenia needed a reaction and they got it as the Poles imploded, not scoring a field goal for five minutes as Doncic - the Slovenian talisman - was marked well, leaving Vlatko Cancar and Goran Dragic to outscore him and bring their side roaring back into the contest.
Poland called a timeout as the quarter ended and that, along with the precise shooting that had been missing in the third quarter, helped them wrestle back control of the tie.
Pontika was at the heart of this and he helped his side secure their spot in the semi-finals late on, where they will face France.
Check out the late game's stats with Flashscore.
In the other semi, both to be played on Friday, Germany take on Spain at 20:30 CET.