Twin towers stand tall in Group D

Last month when these two nations faced off Lithuania would celebrate its 500th victory in International basketball and 100th for Jonas Kazlauskas as coach with a score line of 80:76.

Early free throws by Jonas Valančiūnas would see Lithuania control the flow in the opening minutes before Slovenia would take out the 24:22 lead in the first break after six lead changes.

Martynas Pocius would continue his three point specialties while centre Darjuš Lavrinovič was able to score five points in the space of 40 seconds; handing Lithuania a 4-point lead (their biggest margin of the game).

Lithuanian captain Paulius Jankūnas’ second assist for the day left fans on the edge of their seats at the Gran Canaria Arena as Pocius slammed an impressive dunk.

However Slovenia still held a healthy 62:55 lead at the final break, hoping to cement the top spot on the Group D table.

Thankfully, Lithuania would storm home scoring 12:2 in the final term; nine points combined by Lithuania’s favourite on court twins.

The Baltic nation was able to leapfrog their opponents to the top spot of the group thanks to a point’s difference of +52; Slovenia finished second on +51.

Lithuania would concede 331 points, making for the second best defence in the competition behind the host nation Spain (314 points).

Australia would face a shock 91:83 defeat to Angola after Yanick Moreira poured 38 points however the African nation would be unable to hold onto a spot in the knockout stage due to Mexico’s 87:71 win over South Korea.

Lithuania will now play off against New Zealand in the Round of 16 and, if successful, will play the winner of Australia v. Turkey in the quarter final round.

Lithuania’s Stats:

Most points:

Jonas Valančiūnas (12). Darjuš Lavrinovič (11).

Most rebounds:

Darjuš Lavrinovič (8), Kšyštof Lavrinovič (4), Simas Jasaitis (4), Paulius Jankūnas (4).

Most assists:

Adas Juškevičius (3).

Team Comparisons:

Biggest lead:

Lithuania 4
Slovenia 12

3 points FG:

Lithuania 50 %
Slovenia 45%

2 points FG:

Lithuania 37.5%
Slovenia 24%

Free Throws:

Lithuania 76.5%
Slovenia 60%

Blocks:

Lithuania 4
Slovenia 3

Turnovers:

Lithuania 14
Slovenia 11

Steals:

Lithuania 4
Slovenia 6