Game Summary

Turning point: Spain looked fresher in the overtime period. Slovenia used all of the energy at their disposal to send the game into overtime but faded away in that final frame.

Hero: While his team ended up on the losing end, Gordan Dragic was a hero as he spearheaded the furious fourth quarter comeback by harassing Spain's ball handlers, getting six steals and turning them into easy baskets.

Stats: With Spain's offense clearly stagnant, Juan Carlos Navarro took it upon himself to get some easy points. He finished with 12 free-throw attempts, 10 of them coming in the fourth quarter. He single-handedly prevented Spain from falling behind.

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Spain had to work overtime in order to edge out Slovenia 90-84 and finish with a 2-1 mark in EuroBasket Group C.

The Spaniards handed Slovenia their first defeat of the tournament and, in the process, secured their place in the Qualifying Round.

The world champions led 64-51 early in the final quarter, but Slovenia outscored them 27-14 the rest of that period,

Rudy Fernandez had 19 points and five rebounds in the win.

sending the game into overtime on Erazem Lorbek's fadeaway jumper that just about beat the buzzer.

With Spain up 78-75, Ricky Rubio grabbed Goran Dragic with a second left to play, sending the Slovenian guard to the line. He made the first free-throw and intentionally missed the second.

Lorbek was in the right place at the right time as he grabbed the offensive rebound and beat the buzzer with his short step back jumper from the right baseline.

However the extra session wasn't quite as entertaining. After faltering in the final frame, Spain got their second wind while Slovenia were too tired following their impressive rally.

Felipe Reyes made a pair of free-throws to break the deadlock and his team slowly pulled away, going up by six, 87-81, when Pau Gasol scored on a putback off Rudy Fernandez's missed three-pointer with just over two minutes remaining. There proved to be no late rallies this time around for Slovenia.

Afterward, Spain head coach Sergio Scariolo admitted his team hadn't reached the fitness needed but is hopeful they are on the right track.

"When you have really bad physical condition, in the fourth quarter you lose intensity, concentration.  According to the improvement of our physical condition, we will be able to improve. Hopefully we will improve enough to have 40 or 50 minutes in peak condition."

The game was close early on with Slovenia leading 20-18 at the end of the first quarter, thanks to 12 points from Primoz Brezec.

The Spaniards made their move in the second quarter, with Marc Gasol tying the game on a lay-up and then beating a double-team to find Sergio Llull in the opposite corner and the 21-year-old guard buried a three-pointer to put Spain back in front, 23-20. He added another long bomb minutes later for a 29-22 advantage.

Slovenia fought back and edged in front 33-32 as Bostjan Nachbar went coast to coast for a lay-up over Pau Gasol and made the free-throw for a three-point play.

That lead proved to be short-lived though as the Spaniards finished the half strong, scoring 11 of the last 14 points for a 43-35 advantage at the break.

Spain kept pouring it on in the early part of the third quarter, going up by 13, 48-35, on Rubio's three-pointer.

Jure Zdvoc's side got a huge lift from reserve Goran Jagodnik, who started the second half in place of Brezec and scored eight quick points before Nachbar capped an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to 50-43.

Fernandez took over at the end of the period, going on a personal 6-0 run to help Spain head into the final frame up 62-49.

The fourth quarter looked like a mere formality when Fernandez's lay-up made it 64-51. But Dragic turned it around for Slovenia.

The guard, who finished with 19 points and six steals, proved a constant headache for Spain, stepping into the passing lane to snatch the ball away and then sprinting down court for several fastbreak lay-ups as part of a 12-0 run that got the Slovenians within one, 64-63.

Despite their offense being stagnant, Spain somehow held on to the lead until Lorbek's buzzer-beating shot tied the game.

Juan Carlos Navarro was the main reason for Spain staying on top as he drew foul after foul and hit nine of 10 free-throws in the fourth quarter alone.

Rubio stole Erazem Lorbek's pass, intended for his brother Domen, with just under two minutes to put Spain up 74-68. Dragic made a lay-up to cut the deficit to 75-72 with 14 seconds remaining.

Both teams proceeded to foul and Spain were up 78-75 on Fernandez's made free-throw with seven seconds remaining before Slovenia's smart play sent the game into overtime.

Bostjan Nachbar (Slovenia Forward):

"It was a very good game, I think the best game so far here. I'm happy to see how we responded to Spain having a 10 point lead and credit also goes to our fans. I'm not happy with the result, but tomorrow is a new day. We will be playing now against Poland, Turkey and one more very strong team, so we need to get some rest and try to recover from today's loss."

Sergio Scariolo (Spain Coach): 

I agree with Bostjan that it was a very good basketball match. It's one more step forward for us and I'm very happy that we keep improving. I used a shorter rotation today and we lost some energy in 4th quarter, some players were tired, and it had an effect physically and mentally. I am very happy with the overtime, players were very calm and found a way to win.

Jure Zdovc (Slovenia Coach): 

Congratulations for coach Scariolo and Felipe, they deserved this win. They've played hard, they were stronger, faster than us. But I want to also congratulations my players for their fighting spirit. We weren't as fast with our rotations, as we were in previous two games and Spain were hitting some tough shots. With the support of our fans we were able to come back, but in the end we lost and it's only that matters.

After coming very close to losing to Great Britain, in what might have been one of the biggest upset in European basketball history, a shaky-looking Spain will bid to hand Slovenia their first defeat in EuroBasket Group C on Wednesday.

Pau Gasol was the world champions' saviour on Tuesday, hitting the go-ahead three-pointer with about three minutes left in the game to give his team a 74-73 lead, one they didn't relinquish on their way to an 84-76 win.

Spain led by as many as 16 but Great Britain ran off 14 unanswered points to take their first lead at 68-66 midway through the final frame but they eventually ran out of steam.

Slovenia come into this game on the back of an impressive win over Serbia which guaranteed their place in the Qualifying Round. Jure Zdovc's men had a double-digit lead only three minutes into the game and never trailed on their way to an 80-69 win.

Head-to-head: Spain have won two of the three meetings between the two sides. The last time they met, at EuroBasket 2001 in Turkey, Slovenia were crushed 85-61 in the opening game of the tournament.

Key match-up: The battle of the big guys - Pau Gasol v Erazem Lorbek. They are the centre of their teams' offense. It will be interesting to see if Lorbek can slow down the Los Angeles Lakers All Star.

X-factor: Slovenia had their shooting touch going for them in the defeat of Serbia. They made 19 of 29 field goal attempts from two-point range and nine of 21 from beyond the arc. If they can keep up that kind of accuracy, Spain have their work cut out.

Stats: 32 - That is the number of points starter Jaka Lakovic and back-up Goran Dragic combined for against Serbia. Slovenia's guards have certainly been instrumental in their team's success so far and will be called upon again. Domen Lorbek and Samo Udrih led the fourth quarter charge to beat Great Britain on Monday and it was the turn of Lakovic and Dragic on Tuesday. The former hit two three-pointers to set the tone in the early stages and the latter scored 10 first-half points - including eight early in the second quarter - to keep Serbia at bay. 

Sounding-off: "It will be a tough game. Slovenia have been the best team in the group so far. It is important for us to do a better job mentally than what we have shown in the first two games. If we do that, then I hope that the rest will take care of itself." - Spain head coach Sergio Scariolo.