Spain keeps up Eurobasket pace

After a sluggish start, Spain demonstrated its strength on Wednesday, eventually crushing a feisty Slovenia 86-64 and edging up to the Eurobasket semifinals.

It was Juan Carlos Navarro's fiery three-pointers that demonstrated the Spanish team's strength during the third quarter in Kaunas, Lithuania. But victory didn't come without a price. José Calderón suffered an ankle injury and a blow to the head before being removed from the game during the same quarter, igniting a brief row between Navarro, Rudy Fernández and Slovenia star Goran Dragic.

The Slovenians got ahead start during the first minute of the quarterfinal, packing four points in front of a scoreless Spain with baskets by Dragic and Edo Muric. Pau Gasol's midcourt shot put Spain on the scoreboard, but the defending champion had trouble catching up and trailed the Slovenians throughout the first quarter. Two triples by Saso Ozbolt and Samo Udrih pushed Slovenia ahead by 10 points at the end of the first.

Gasol came back five minutes into the second to even the score 25-25 with two free throws after he was fouled by Dragic. The Slovenians then advanced with a three-pointer by Matjaz Smodis but a layup by Felipe Reyes two minutes before the interval put Spain ahead for good.

The real action came in the third quarter with some fast court play by Navarro, Fernández, Calderón and Sergio Llull, all pitching in to pour in 36 points. Barcelona guard Navarro was the real star, raking in 17 during the third to finish with a game high of 26.

By the beginning of the final quarter, Spain was sitting on a comfortable 71-47 lead. Sergio Ibaka came in to pitch a series of free throws that helped the Spaniards to a 22-point winning margin.

"We are on the way to reaching our first goal that we set out to reach and that is to make the finals and the Olympics," Navarro said after the game. The winners and runners-up of Eurobasket 2011 will qualify automatically for next year's Games in London. "It is going to be another final and the atmosphere is going to be impressive," he said of Friday's semifinal against Macedonia, which beat host nation Lithuania later on Wednesday.

This is the seventh time Spain has reached the semifinals, with the country winning its first Eurobasket championship two years ago in Poland.