After an impressive outing
against Serbia two days ago, Lithuania fell short against France, who defeated
the hosts 73-67 (18-16, 16-12, 9-18,
30-21) to remain one of the two undefeated teams in EuroBasket.
Having trailed for most of the first half, Lithuania managed to obtain a small three-point lead at 46-43 before giving up the initiative to France once again.
This was the second loss for Lithuania in EuroBasket, as the home team was also defeated by Spain, who will face France on Sunday to decide, who takes the first place in Group E.
A win against Germany in the next game would guarantee Lithuania a place in the next round, but the hosts could qualify even if they lost the game.
Simas Jasaitis led Lithuania in scoring with 13 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 12 while Darius Songaila added 9 points.
Nando de Colo was causing the most headaches for Lithuania’s coach Kestutis Kemzura, having scored 21 points, Tony Parker contributed with 19 as Joakim Noah and Nicolas Batum both finished with 9 points.
