London, England (August 10, 2012)

Pau Gasol tallied 16 points and 12 rebounds and European champion Spain recovered from an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat Russia, 67-59, and advance to the final of the Olympic men's basketball event for the second straight time.

The Spaniards will face Team USA in a rematch of the finals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics where they lost to the Americans, 118-107. The Americans defeated Argentina, 109-83 in the other semifinal matchup

[Related: USA Men Shoot Down Argentina 109-83; Advance to Gold Medal Game ]

Jose Calderon poured 12 of his 14 points in the second half while Rudy Fernandez and Marc Gasol contributed 11 points apiece for Spain. Sasha Kaun paced Russia with 14 points while Andrei Kirilenko was limited by a quad injury to 10.

The Russians limited the Spaniards to just nine points in the first period and 11 in the second frame to lead by 31-20 at the half.

But Spain slowly inched closer and finally tied the count at 46 with a three-pointer from Calderon with eight seconds left in the third period.

Calderon continued his hot play in the final period, burying a 3-pointer to give Spain its second taste of the lead at 51-49, with seven minutes left in the game.

The playmaker added another three-pointer and Felipe Reyes hit a jumper to cap a 14-1 run that handed the Spaniards a 60-50 advantage with less than five minutes to play.

The Russians last threatened at 61-54 after a three-point shot by Kirilenko but Gasol's fastbreak dunk with less than two minutes secured the victory for Spaniards, who reached the final for the sixth time in the past seven Olympic.

"We never gave up," Gasol said. "We were able to overcome a poor first half. In the second half we went out with a lot of confidence playing defensively and started making shots. That's what it came down to, playing with a rhythm and with some confidence."

"The final in 2008 was very competitive. We fought hard throughout the game," Gasol said when asked the possibility of facing the US in the final. "We understand this going to be a difficult game. We're not going to fight any less. This is a huge opportunity."

2012 London Olympics - videos

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