Spain wins gold at Eurobasket 2011

History was made at EuroBasket 2011 on Sunday when Spain became just the first country this century to win back-to-back gold medals, outpacing France 98-85 before a sellout crowd of 15,440 at Zalgirio Arena in Kaunas, Lithuania. Turkish Airlines Euroleague legend Juan Carlos Navarro of FC Regal Barcelona was named MVP after pouring in 27 points and dishing 5 assists to lead Spain. Navarro averaged 29.3 points over three games as Spain breezed through the quarters, semis and final. The former Euroleague MVP was joined on the All-EuroBasket 2011 team by teammate Pau Gasol, Bo McCalebb of FYROM and Montepaschi Siena, Tony Parker of France and Andrei Kirilenko of Russia. In the bronze-medal game, Russia outlasted F.Y.R. of Macedonia 68-72 after the score had been tied with under 20 seconds left. A one-handed flip-in with 16 seconds left by Sergey Bykov of Lokomotiv Kuban proved the game-winner.