Nurkić stars as Bosnia-Herzegovina advances at EuroBasket while France routs Iceland

LIMASSOL, Cyprus (AP) — Utah Jazz center Jusuf Nurkić scored 15 points as Bosnia and Herzegovina beat Group C rival Georgia 84-76 to reach the knockout stage at EuroBasket on Thursday.

Georgia trailed by 12 points at halftime but fought back for a 71-71 tie with just over seven minutes left in the fourth quarter in the Cypriot city of Limassol.

Nurkić stopped Georgia's momentum with the next score, a hook shot from Edin Atic's assist, starting a nine-point run for his side. The Georgians ran out of gas and its bench mustered just four points in the game.

The irrepressible Nurkić had 12 rebounds, the most on either side, and chalked up his third straight double-double of the tournament.

Toronto Raptors forward Alexander Mamukelashvili top-scored for Georgia with 20 points and eight rebounds.

Spain under pressure

The defeat left Georgia in fourth place and waiting on defending champion Spain’s result against Greece later Thursday.

Spain needed to beat Greece to qualify after losing two of its Group C games. Already-qualified Italy was facing rock-bottom Cyprus in the other group game.

Slick France too strong

In remaining Group D play, Zaccharie Risacher led with 15 points as France routed Iceland 114-74 in Katowice, Poland.

Risacher, the No. 1 NBA draft pick last year, made three out of five three-pointers and had seven rebounds. France shared the scoring around, with seven other players scoring at least 10 points, and a strong bench contributed 66 points overall.

The win put Olympic silver medalist France provisionally top of Group D ahead of Israel's match against Slovenia later Thursday, with both of those teams already qualified.

The knockout phase starts in Riga, Latvia, on Saturday.

Spain beat France 88-76 in the 2022 final. ___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports