Basketball: Emus leave it late to book semifinal spot

Tomislav Zubcic, of Croatia, dunks the ball in last night's quarter-final against Puerto Rico. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Australia were forced to stage a dramatic late comeback against France to maintain their undefeated record and book a place in today's semifinal against Greece.

The Emus had coasted through pool play but they came within two minutes of exiting at the first playoff hurdle, with France overturning a 10-point halftime deficit to lead by five points with the clock ticking down.

But some inspired three-point shooting from captain Matthew Dellavedova and Jordan Page helped the Emus storm home on a 13-4 run to keep their tournament alive.

The French were still in it until the death but were left to rue two missed free throws from Alexis Tanghe that could have put the contest within a single score with 19s remaining.

"We've played France three times before in the lead-up so we knew they were a good side and wouldn't go away," Dellavedova said.

"We knew we'd have to play some defence and we did. And we got over the line. The thing we take out of it is probably that we could get ourselves going again, come from behind and get it done."

The Emus looked to have blown the game open with a 28-15 second quarter but the French rallied to take the third quarter 18-13. They hit the front with six minutes remaining and with 4.37 on the clock led by five.

But a long-range three from Dellavedova seemed to settle the Australians' nerve and five quick points from Ellis wrested back control of the match.

"We've been playing together for a while now, we know what each other can do and who we want to take that shot," Dellavedova said.

He ended with 18 points, including 4/8 three pointers. Christophe Leonard starred for the French with 22 points and 13 rebounds.

European champions Greece made short work of Argentina in the first quarter-final, cruising to an 86-60 victory. Led by 20 points and eight rebounds from Leonidas Kaselakis, the Greeks shot to an early lead and were never headed.

The other two quarter-finals - Croatia v Puerto Rico and USA v Canada - were played last night after this edition went to print.

In other matches played yesterday, Lithuania beat Kazakhstan 113-79 and Spain defeated Egypt 88-73. The two winners from those matches play today to decide ninth and 10th place, while the losers meet in a match for 11th and 12th.