By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Croatia was in dire need of a win in front of their home crowd to escape the sixth spot of its World Cup Qualifiers Group but it was Lithuania that got the 84 – 83 win in Osijek.
Eimantas Bendzius (16 points), veteran Mantas Kalnietis (15 points, five assists), Adas Juskevicius (14 points) and Lukas Lekavicius (10 points) compiled the winning equation for Lithuania that remains at the top of Group J with a 7-0 record.
Bojan Bogdanovic finished with 22 points (6/17 shots) for Croatia while Darius Saric added 19 points, six rebounds, and five assists, Kurnoslav Simon scored 16 and grabbed five rebounds and Ivica Zubac had 11 points for Croatia.
Croatia will face Poland on Sunday (16/9) in a must-do game for the two teams that are both 3-4 in the Group. Lithuania has an opportunity to punch a World Cup ticket with a win over the Netherlands at home, also Sunday.