London, England – Tony Parker scored 22 points and Nicolas Batum added 19 with seven rebounds, leading France to a 73-69 victory over winless Tunisia in men's basketball.
The French have won three straight games since losing their opener against the United States to earn a spot in the quarterfinals and will face Nigeria in its final Group A game on Monday.
Mohamed Hadidane led Tunisia with 20 points and Makram Ben Romdhane chipped in 17 with eight assists in defeat. Tunisia is 0-4 and will close its Olympic tournament on Monday against Lithuania.
France scored seven straight points early in the contest to open an 11-4 lead and built a 20-15 edge after one period. Tunisia was as close as one and stayed within single digits throughout the second quarter, trailing only 35-27 at the break.
Batum started the second half with a three-pointer and Parker followed with the next five, as France grabbed a 43-27 cushion. The French led by as many as 20 in the third and carried a 60-43 advantage into the final stanza.
Tunisia slowly chipped away in the fourth and trimmed its deficit to single digits midway through the period, but never seriously threatened. Hadidane's bucket made it a 71-66 game with 50 seconds to play, but Nando de Colo hit a pair from the stripe for France and Hadidane's three in the closing seconds accounted for the final margin.
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