Olympics-Basketball-Spain defeats France for men's semi-finals berth

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Spain steamrolled over European rival and neighbor France on Wednesday with a convincing 92-67 win to earn a berth in the men's Olympic basketball semi-finals. Ranked No. 2 behind the United States, Spain made up for a slow start in the Olympic tournament by dominating from the first quarter to rack up its fourth straight win here. A team heavy with NBA players, Spain may face the U.S. in the semi-finals on Friday if the struggling Americans defeat Argentina later in the day. The top scorer for Spain with 23 points was Nikola Mirotic, who plays for the Chicago Bulls. Half of the 24 players in Wednesday's match are in the NBA, seven of them from Spain and five from France. (Reporting by Mary Milliken and Steve Keating; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)