EuroBasket 2011

Tony Parker led France with his 21 points in the win over Bosnia and Herzegovina

France withstood an early onslaught by Bosnia and Herzegovina in their friendly encounter in Gravelines on Friday night and won 85-60.

Tony Parker poured in 21 points and Nando De Colo had 18 for Les Bleus.

Joakim Noah also weighed in with 12 points for the French, while Henry Domercant scored a game-high 23 in defeat.

The Bosnians played much better, at least early on, than they did in their previous friendly against Belgium.

Eddy Casteels' team had thumped the Bosnians, 81-55.

"Bosnia had a very big first quarter," Parker said of the opponents, who led 25-22 at the end of the opening frame.

At half-time, the visitors only trailed 45-39 but after the break, France pulled away for a decisive triumph.

"I think with our defense, we wore them down so that in the second half, they were tired and we took advantage," Parker said.

France have been on a tear of late, winning all their games at the London Invitational - a test event for next year's Olympics.

They want to keep the winning momentum going.

"We built on the tournament in London and we continue to work on things that need to be improved," Parker said.

"We are continuing to affirm our play on defense, which is our identity, and I think tonight we showed once again what we could do defensively."

De Colo is a player who is coming off another solid year at Power Electronics Valencia in Spain's ACB and the Euroleague.

"Bosnia surprised us in the first half," he said.

"They were very clever on their shots and we let them play a little.

"Then we became more aggressive and that's what made the difference."

Parker, who has been in outstanding form this summer, added that Gravelines provided a wonderful atmosphere.

"The audience tonight was great," he said.

"We don't have the opportunity to play in France and play in front of this audience. It was great.

"We are in the north for three days, you feel a lot of excitement and support and it makes us want to not disappoint our fans and to have a good result."

Both teams face a daunting task at the EuroBasket.

Bosnia and Herzegovina are in Group C with Greece, Croatia, FYR of Macedonia, Montenegro and Finland and France are in Group B with Serbia, Israel, Italy, Germany and Latvia.

France take on Belgium on Saturday in Liévin.

Belgium will follow up that friendly with another against Lithuania on Sunday.

The EuroBasket tips off on August 31.