France were pushed all the way by fellow Eurobasket finalists Italy but emerged victorious with an overtime victory.

Both teams will meet in the first phase in Sweden and on this form it will be a closely-contested affair as they finished locked at 80-80 after regulation time on Saturday night.

France, silver medallists behind the American Dream Team in the Sydney Olympics, made an electric start with Tony Parker in inspirational form for Les Blues as he scored 12 points out of the first 18 in the opening eight minutes.

Parker, who became the first Frenchman to win the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs this year, seemed to relish his role at the centre of operations - in Texas he is the workhorse and plays second fiddle to Tim Duncan.

He would finish Saturday's match with a personal haul of 25 points but was given able support by fellow NBA star Jerome Moiso (15) and Alain Foirest with 12.

France led 21-11 at the end of the first period and 46-29 at the halfway mark.

But the game totally changed complexion in the second half of the game as the Azzurri hit back.

Denis Marconato was at the hub of the revival as he prompted his team-mates although Giacomo Galanda would top score with 24 points before his participation was ended by his fifth personal foul.

By the end of the third quarter the score had been reduced to 61-57 and then in the final scheduled period Italy prevailed 23-19 to square the game at 80-80.

But France edged the extra period to maintain their 100 percent record in two pre-Euro tournaments in Liege and Strasbourg and take their winning run to 10 matches going into Sunday's final match with Lithuania.

After the Lithuania match, coach Alain Weisz is expected to name his squad for Eurobasket 2003.