RIO DE JANEIRO – Nearly written off after two losses to open the Rio Games, Spain is back in the men's basketball semifinals for the third straight time following a 92-67 rout of France in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Nikola Mirotic scored 23 points, Willy Hernangomez added 18 and Spain pulled away in the third quarter to reserve a spot in Friday's semis against the United States.

After the loss, a nostalgic Tony Parker, the dazzling point guard who made France relevant on international hardwood, said he would no longer play for his home country.

"I just took a lot of pride playing for the national team," said the 34-year-old Parker, who scored 14 in his final game. "I just love playing in this competition. I love this atmosphere, which is very different than the NBA. Growing up, my dream was to win an NBA championship. That was my ultimate goal. But as I grew up, I fell in love with the national team.

"We won the gold medal in juniors when I was 18. So then my goal was to try to bring the first national team ever championship for France, and we did that in 2013. Overall, just great experiences. I enjoyed it all these years. These last 16 years have been great. I don't regret one second."

The Timberwolves' Ricky Rubio had six points and five assists for the Spain.

Australia 90, Lithuania 64: Patty Mills scored 24 points and Matthew Dellavedova 15 for the Aussies, who will play the Serbia-Croatia winner in the semifinals.

Associated Press