For the Russian basketball team, the victory meant much more than usual. This win was dedicated to the ice hockey players killed in a Russian plane crash. Wearing black tags on their uniforms, the Russians beat Finland 79-60 Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the European basketball championship. It was an emotional victory, coming a day after 36 players, coaches and staff of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team died when their private plane went down in western Russia. A minute of silence was observed before Thursday's games. Also advancing to the quarterfinals was Macedonia, a small former Yugoslav republic which marked its Independence Day by beating Georgia 65-63. American born-guard Bo McCalebb scored the winning basket, making a driving layup with two seconds left. Macedonia and Russia are both 3-0 in the second-round stage. On Wednesday, host Lithuania took a big step toward the European championship quarterfinals after 19-year-old center Jonas Valanciunas lifted it to an impressive 100-90 win over Serbia. The result also meant that France became the first team to secure a berth in the last eight after a scrappy 68-64 success against Turkey earlier Wednesday stretched its perfect record to six wins. The winner and the runner-up of Eurobasket 2011 will qualify automatically for the 2012 Olympics in London along with host Britain, while the next four in line will enter a 12-team playoff for another three berths next year.
