France coach Claude Bergeaud hailed a match-winning performance by Boris Diaw after France beat Slovenia 85-69 in their Euro 2005 qualifier.

Diaw, a first round draft pick in the NBA who last year averaged 4.5 points with the Atlanta Hawks as a rookie, poured in 26 as France gained revenge for their 77-61 defeat against the Slovenians in Celje earlier in the qualifiers.

There was no stopping 22-year-old Diaw, a product of the Pau-Orthez club in the Pyrenees who is the son of Issa Diaw, a former Senegalese high jump champion.

Bergeaud told www.basketfrance.com: "We were not planning on giving ourselves such a big deficit as we did in Slovenia.

"Then we did not start playing until the final time-out of the fourth period."

Commenting on Saturday's match, Bergeaud said: "(Sani) Becirovic played well but we managed to cut off the others and he played all alone.

"I am very happy, even if we missed by a point a chance for an aggregate win.

"We are living in adversity and from Monday we will be concentrating on the match with the Czech Republic."

He then turned his attention to the performance of Diaw.

"I want to say a word about Boris who, I repeat, is a creative player because he has eyes everywhere and now he is in the zone.

"It's now very good that we can approach the last two matches with calmness."