Serbia wins at Tournoi de Pau 2014

Serbia triumphed over host nation France 79-69, in the final game at the Tournoi de Pau 2014. It was a friendly tournament held over the weekend to help teams prepare for the upcoming 2014 Basketball World Cup which will be held in Spain this August 30 to September 14. Greece and Croatia were also participants in the event.

The hosts did their best to put up a good performance despite missing the on-court presence of regular point guard, Tony Parker. They did get an excellent game from Joffrey Lauvergne who ended with a game-high 17 points. France began the game taking charge in the first period, but the resilient Serbian squad attacked the deficit in the second and had a slim two-point advantage going into the halftime break.

In the third, Serbia’s constant drives towards the hoop and their ability to score in transition allowed them to expand on their lead and take it to ten. France could not regain control of the game as Serbia held onto their lead as time expired in regulation.

Serbia’s Miroslav Raduljica led three other teammates in double digit scoring for the night. He finished with 14 points. Nemanja Bjelica, who led his team in minutes on the floor scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Vladimir Micov and Rasko Katic added 12 and 11 points respectively.

Overall, the series of friendly games was a productive affair in terms of tuning up the teams and giving their coaches more information to work with as they plan out their starting lineups and rotations for the World Cup.