SAITAMA, Japan, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- NBA star Pau Gasol led his homeland of Spain to the medal round of the World Basketball Championships with an 89-67 victory over Lithuania Tuesday.
Spain's next challenge will be Argentina, which beat Turkey 83-58 Tuesday. Both Argentina and Spain are 7-0 in the tournament.
Gasol, who plays professionally for NBA's Memphis Grizzlies, scored a game-high 25 points and teammate Juan-Carlos Navarro added 22. Spain jumped out to an early lead, outscoring Lithuania 28-11 in the first quarter.
Spain grabbed 17 steals, and went to the free throw line 19 times more than Lithuania, which was led by Darjus Lavrinovic's 17 points.
Argentina blew by Turkey in the middle portions of the game, outscoring Turkey 18-7 in the second quarter and 32-17 in the third.
Argentina was paced by Andres Nocioni of the Chicago Bulls, who posted 21 points. Carlos Delfino added 14.
Spain and Argentina will meet Friday, with the winner headed to the gold medal game.
Germany, France, Greece and the United States are teams on the other side of the bracket.
