A historic night unfolded in Ljubljana on Sunday as France lifted the Eurobasket trophy for the first time in history.

Bucking a less-than-stellar performance in the semifinal against Spain, Nicolas Batum unloaded his full arsenal against Lithuania, shooting three three-pointers in one of his finest international performance yet.

Lithuania led 29-27 when Linas Kleiza took to the bench for some rest after scoring 16 points. France took advantage of the Lithuanian's lack of offense, clamping down on the opposition while scoring 21 points of its own. Batum led the charge, scoring 8 of his 17 points in that stretch leading into halftime. Lithuania tried to clamp down on guard Tony Parker, limiting the crack San Antonio Spurs point guard to just 12 points. That lack of scoring from Parker was not sorely missed, however, as the French hit consecutive triples, puncuated by a half-court heave by Antoine Diot at the half-time buzzer.

In the third quarter, Lithuania did all it could to claw back into the game, but Diaw shot a back-breaking three-point shot to extend the lead to 17. France put a premium on defense, led by Batum and center Boris Diaw, who had 15 points and six rebounds to his credit. Kleiza scored only four more points the rest of the game, as it was apparent that the wind had been taken out of the Lithuanians' sails. The closest they could get in the fourth quarter was 14 points, as Parker finally found his touch.

So dominant were France that they made 58 per cent of their two-point attempts while letting Lithuania score on only 44.1 per cent of their inside incursions. They also outrebounded their counterparts from the Baltic, 42-25, and got to the offensive glass more, with 12 offensive rebounds compared to Lithuania's two.

With the win, France have ascended to the pinnacle of European basketball after falling short at the hands of Spain in 2011. France, along with host Spain, Lithuania, Croatia, Slovenia, first-timer Ukraine, and Serbia, will advance to the FIBA World Cup in 2014.