- You can check out the moments from the game in our photo gallery.
Despite a fairly big margin of winning, the start of the game must have been scary for coach Kestutis Kemzura. France went on a huge 16-0 run from the middle of the first quarter to gain a 24-11 advantage. It all looked even more serious when the gap was stretched to 15 points a couple possessions after that.
However, the French train was stopped at exactly the ten minute mark.Lithuania went on to score 30 points in eleven minutes allowing France only six to swing the game their way and take the driver’s seat at 44-35. The gap only grew to reach a game-high 17 points at 60-43 before France clawed back a couple of points.
Lithuania:
Jonas Mačiulis 19, Linas Kleiza 15, Mantas Kalnietis 9, Martynas Pocius 8.
France: Nicolas Batum 13, Mickeal Gelabale 10,
Nando De Colo 9, Boris Diaw 9.
Kęstutis Kemzūra (head coach of Lithuania): “To be fair, I was afraid of this game. First of all, because we played against a well-coached, athletic and just a good French team in general. They’re missing their stars, but they’re playing great. Secondly, we had a difficult game psychologically yesterday. I wasn’t sure about emotional condition.
We were hurrying to match in the beginning of the game, we weren’t patient and just wanted to do everything as fast as we can. However, we dealt with our problems and everything sorted out. I’m happy with how we played the second quarter, but we’re looking ahead – the real fun is just about to start.”
