Jonas Valanciunas was glad that Lithuania found the energy and courage to push through in the FIBA Basketball World Cup classification round after suffering a heartbreaking loss to Serbia in the quarterfinals, which knocked them out of contention.
Valanciunas and the rest of Lithuania picked up the pieces and powered through against Slovenia, securing a lopsided 100-84 victory to advance to the battle for the fifth round, where they will face Latvia.
“You know, it was tough to find energy after the loss to Serbia, but I’m happy we found it. We came really prepared and ready for this game,” said the New Orleans Pelicans center, who finished with 24 points and 12 boards in the win.
“We’re not going to give up. We’re playing for our country, our fans, the people who came here to support us, and those who were watching us at home on their TVs,” he added.
Lithuania had quite the campaign in the world tournament, posting a perfect 5-0 record in the first two rounds, which included a stunning 110-104 victory over the powerhouse Team USA.
Unfortunately, the Lithuanians failed to sustain their momentum, losing to Serbia 87-68 in the quarterfinals, which eliminated them from contention.
The former NBA All-Rookie Second Team member credited the team’s young guns for stepping up to the challenge and bouncing back.
Ignas Brazdeikis scored 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while Deividas Sirvydis and Rokas Jokubaitis chipped in 14 and eight points, respectively.
“It was not a big challenge because our guys are really hungry. They are a young group of guys who really know and enjoy basketball, who really enjoy playing good basketball,” said Valanciunas.
“As we saw today, everybody who stepped on the court was playing good basketball. No matter what happened two days ago, they were still fighting, diving on the court, not saving themselves, and leaving everything on the court.”
