By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Lithuania was leading just by two points in the middle of the second quarter and everyone expected a big fight until the end. Ultimately that wasn’t the case.
Lithuania picked up the pace and finished the first half with an 18-6 run, cruising for the rest of the game until the final 87-70 over Bosnia. After this result, Bosnia (2-3) completed its Eurobasket participation without making it to the second round, while Lithuania (2-3) finished fourth in Group B and will play against Spain, the top team of Group A in the Round of 16 in Berlin.
Maris Grigonis set the tone from the first quarter, scoring 14 points of his 16 points in the first eight minutes of the game. Jonas Valanciunas had one more double-double (13 p. 15 r. 5 as.), Domantas Sabonis added 12 points, while the duo of Ignas Brazdeikis and Arnas Butkevicius had 13 points each.
As Lithuanian coach Kazys Maksvytis said: “I am happy we are going to Berlin and not to our home. I want to thank our fans for their support, they are the best in Europe. And I, of course, I want to thank my players”.
Lithuania had a 56-42 halftime lead and started the second half with a 13-5 run (69-47) that practically finished the game. Bosnia tried to come back, trimmed the lead to 11 points (70-59) in the third period and (81-70) in the fourth, but couldn’t do much else.
“This is the first time that I felt we really lost the game, because in the previous four games, even in the two defeats, I felt we could win”, admitted Bosnia coach Aziz Bekir, That’s why I am sad”.
The duo of Dzanan Musa (22 p.) and Jusuf Nurkic (15 p.) tried to make things happen, however, Lithuania was in total control, especially in the second half.
“Congratulations to Lithuania, they played better than us today and deserved to win”, said Musa in the press conference.
“I am still proud of my guys, my coaches and we fought until the last game. I am just happy to be part of this team”.
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL