July 2, 1999

PARIS (AP) - Russia qualified for next year's Olympics by beating Germany 74-70 Friday at the European Championships, led by guard Igor Koudeline's 19 points.

Yevgeny Kissourine came through with a 3-point play and Zakhar Pashutin, a guard who had only one point in the first half, made a couple of key baskets in the closing minutes to assure the Russian victory. The game matched two losing quarterfinalists.

Two American-based players led Germany. Forward Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks had 15 points and forward Ademola Okulaja of North Carolina had 14.

Russia now goes into a playoff for fifth place against the winner of the Lithuania-Turkey game. The top five nations will join Yugoslavia in Sydney. Yugoslavia clinched a berth by winning the world title last year and will finish among the top four here.

Germany will play for seventh place.

Lithuania, one of Europe's top teams, was beaten by Spain 74-72 on Thursday and lost an opportunity to advance to the tournament's semifinals.

The Lithuanians, however, can still qualify for the Olympics. That's more than can be said for Croatia, which was eliminated by a surprising loss to Germany earlier in the tournament and failed to qualify for Olympic play.

Also winning in the quarterfinals Thursday were France, Italy and Yugoslavia, the two-time defending champion. France beat Turkey 66-63, Italy knocked off Russia 102-79 and Yugoslavia beat Germany 78-68.

Spain will meet France and Yugoslavia will face Italy in the semifinals.

By reaching the semis, Italy, France and Spain also qualified for next year's Olympics at Sydney.

With Lithuanian center Arvydas Sabonis in early foul trouble, Spain led early. Sabonis picked up his fourth foul with 16:44 left, he returned seven minutes later, but fouled out in seconds.

Spain led by 10 with less than five minutes remaining, but 3-point goals by Sarunas Jasikevicius and Arturas Karnisovas cut into the lead.

With 18 seconds remaining, Karnisovas nailed another 3, tying the score at 72. Alberto Anguilo hit two free throws with 11.1 seconds left. With time running out, Jasikevicius, who led Lithuania with 22 points, missed a jumper.

Karnisovas had 17 points, while Sabonis had only three points and three rebounds in 16 minutes.