France trailed Russia 67-55 with about eight minutes to play, without the calm play of veterans Tony Parker, Boris Diaw and Nicolas Batum paced France back into the winner’s circle.
Coach Vincent Collet continued to hold them out as Nando de Colo continued his strong tournament and Joffrey Lauvergne helped propel France to a 13-3 run and a 74-67 win over Russia.
Evan Fournier was part of the bench group that helped France secure the win. The lineup with him, Lauvergne, de Colo, Rudy Gobert and Charles Kahudi had a combined +39 in the fourth quarter to eliminate Russia from the tournament.