Lithuania advanced to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 battle for fifth place after handing the Luka Doncic-led Slovenia a 100-84 beating on Thursday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Jonas Valanciunas powered through with 24 points and 12 rebounds, leading the Lithuanians into a all-Baltic clash with Latvia in the battle for fifth place on Saturday.
Ignas Brazdeikis drilled three three-pointers to finish with 15 points and added four assists, while Mindaugas Kuzminskas drained all five of his shots, ending up with 14 markers built on four triples.
Lithuania pulled away late in the fourth quarter, leading by as much as 23 points, 92-69, after a Valanciunas dunk with 4:15 remaining in the game.
“I’m very happy that the team found the motivation and extra effort for this game. First of all, we respect our team, we respect our colors, and we want to show to everybody that the one loss (to USA) was an accident,” said Lithuania head coach Kazys Maksyvtis.
Doncic, who was ejected late in their loss to Canada in the quarterfinals, scored 19 points in the first half but struggled in the second half, converting only one field goal in 10 attempts to finish with 29 points on 7-of-21 shooting.
The Dallas Mavericks superstar also had six rebounds, three steals, and two assists in 37 minutes and seven seconds of action.
Aleksej Nikolic had 14 points, while Mike Tobey collected 13 points and nine boards in the defeat. Zoran Dragic had 12 points along with three rebounds and three assists.
Slovenia will take on Italy in the seventh-place match also on Saturday.
The Scores:
Lithuania 100 – Valanciunas 24, BRazdeikis 15, Kuzminskas 14, Sirvydis 14, Dimsa 9, Normantas 8, Jokubaitis 8, Motiejunas 4, Sedekerskis 4, Kariniauskas 0, Maldunas 0.
Slovenia 84 – Doncic 29, Nikolic 14, Tobey 13, Dragic 12, Hrovat 6, Glas 3, Prepelic B. 3, Prepelic K. 2, Dimec 2, Cebasek 0, Samar 0.
Quarterscores: 33-21, 53-43, 75-63, 100-84
