Kirilenko leads Russia to win European Championship

MADRID, Spain (AP) — Jon Robert Holden scored with two seconds remaining Sunday to lift Russia over Spain 60-59 in the final of the European Basketball Championship.

Holden stripped Spain center Pau Gasol with 27 seconds to play then pump-faked before his jump shot bounced high and in for the win. Gasol's jumper at the buzzer rattled out as time expired.

"This was a victory of David over Goliath. We faced the beast and knocked him down and won," Russia coach David Blatt said. "It's a historic event. I'm proud to be the person in charge of this historic journey."

Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko led Russia with 17 points as the Russians won their first European title in 22 years.z

"This is the best achievement of my career. To beat the Spanish team in Spain was a very tough challenge," tournament MVP Kirilenko said. "We stayed together as a team and won this game."

Spain shot a tournament low 29 percent from the floor (17-of-59) and was outscored 26-10 in the post.

"We're not going to wash our dirty laundry in public," said Spain coach Pepu Hernandez when asked what went wrong. "This is still a very strong team, an exemplary one in fact. For me, it's the best Spanish team in history."

Jorge Garbajosa's 3-pointer put Spain in front after Russia had led for the first time when the American-born Holden made a layup at 9:02 to make it 51-49.

"From the fourth quarter you could feel them tightening up," Blatt said. "

But Gasol, who finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds, struggled from the foul line in the last five minutes — making only 4-of-9. His last miss left the hosts leading 60-54 with 1:48 to play.

With 59 seconds to go, Kirilenko stole the ball from Carlos Jimenez to set up Nikita Morgunov as Russia narrowed the deficit to 59-58.

Kirilenko spent some time on the bench earlier in the game because he had four fouls. But before that, the Utah Jazz forward kept Russia in the game on successive plays in the third quarter, setting up Victor Khryapa for a reverse layup, blocking forward Felipe Reyes' dunk and making a 3-pointer to cut it to 43-39 with 4:12 to go.

Russia last won the European title when it was still the former Soviet Union.