Lithuania demonstrated some impressive basketball and literally ran away
with a memorable 100-90 (26-24, 28-20, 24-24, 22-22) victory against Serbia in
Siemens Arena in Vilnius to start the second round of EuroBasket on a high
note.
“I just want to say how happy I am with the victory as we have defeated a strong team with a great coach. I think we played great basketball today,” said Lithuania’s coach Kestutis Kemzura.
The Lithuanians were firing on all cylinders offensively and couldn’t miss a shot, hitting a staggering 55% from downtown, while the field goal percentage was at 63%.
Mantas Kalnietis was the main guy for Lithuania early on, leading the way with 3-of-5 three-pointers already in the first quarter and fueling Lithuania’s offense.
When Kalnietis had already had his say, the duo of Jonas Valanciunas and Sarunas Jasikevicius took over most of the scoring load and led Lithuania to a double-digit lead at 54-44 at halftime.
Lithuania had a double-digit lead for the biggest part of the second half and had even increased it to 14 points after a dunk by Robertas Javtokas with three minutes to go in the game.
The 100-point outing by Lithuania was the first century of EuroBasket 2011 and the honor of scoring the 100th point was given to Jonas Valanciunas, as the big man converted an and-one play after a rough foul by Nenad Krstic.
Mantas Kalnietis led the Lithuanians in scoring by finishing the game with 19 points as well as dishing out 7 assists, Jonas Valanciunas was close behind with 18 points and 5 boards, while Sarunas Jasikevicius also added a solid performance of 14 points and 7 assists.
Martynas Pocius and Paulius Jankunas scored 13 points each, with the latter adding 7 rebounds as well, while Simas Jasaitis contributed with 9 points and 6 boards.
Serbia’s big man Nenand Krstic was a bit of a mystery for Lithuania’s defense, having collected 21 points, while Milos Teodosic and Dusko Savanovic ended up scoring 16 points each in the high-scoring affair.
