France blow out Lithuania to climb atop Group K; BIH still chasing Montenegro

MUNICH (Germany) - Lithuania had a chance to qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 already on Friday, but instead find themselves behind France after suffering one of their biggest home defeats.

France are now top of the group, and still have a game against Lithuania at home coming up in February, which puts them in the driver's seat in this group. Meanwhile, Montenegro had a big road win to get closer to second straight World Cup appearance, but Bosnia and Herzegovina aren't going anywhere, they are still a win behind their neighbors.

Group K

9/18 games played

All First Round results carry over to Second Round

		GAMES				GAME POINTS					POINTS
#	Team	P	W	L	%	For	Agt	+/-	FA	AA
1	France	9	7	2	77.8	739	564	175	82.1	62.7	16
2	Lithuania	9	7	2	77.8	705	662	43	78.3	73.6	16
3	Montenegro	9	6	3	66.7	690	643	47	76.7	71.4	15
4	BIH	9	5	4	55.6	720	742	-22	80	82.4	14
5	Hungary	9	4	5	44.4	637	719	-82	70.8	79.9	13
6	Czech Republic	9	3	6	33.3	680	725	-45	75.6	80.6	12

Wembanyama, France dismantle Lithuania

It was all eyes on Victor Wembanyama, as the rising star made his national team debut in Lithuania. The 18-year-old delivered, both in highlights and in stats, finishing the game with 20 points and 9 rebounds, helping France to a 90-65 win on the road in Lithuania.

The fact that all the attention was on the gigantic center made life easier for Sylvain Francisco. The shooting guard was the biggest reason why this turned out into a one-way street, knocking down four three-pointers in the third quarter to send France from +10 to +23 in the ten minutes after the halftime.

Francisco played 18 minutes to finish with a team-high 21 points, done on 5-of-5 from beyond the arc. Lithuania got 14 from Eimantas Bendzius and Marek Blazevic, but they drop to 7-2 now, the same record as France, but with an uphill battle to win the tiebreaker in the reverse fixture in France in February.

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Montenegro hold Czech Republic to 56

Czech Republic hoped they would hop the train in the battle for the third spot in the group, but Montenegro ended those hopes with a defensive clinic in Pardubice, winning the game 65-56.

Both teams struggled shooting the ball, shooting 37.3 percent from the field, but it came down to the extra effort of Bosko Radovic's squad. Montenegro outscored Czech Republic 18-4 in second chance points, making the most from their 16 offensive rebounds.

Nemanja Radovic had 15 points for Montenegro, Vladimir Mihailovic 14, and the only bad news for the 6-3 squad was the fact that Kendrick Perry got injured just four minutes in. The point guard went for a pullup jumpshot, and went straight to the bench upon landing, holding his back.

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Capacity crowd helps BIH

Hungary were down by double digits in Sarajevo after the first 20 minutes, but David Vojvoda and Zoltan Perl took turns in catching the hosts' defense off guard in the third quarter, not only erasing the 14-point gap, but creating a two-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

With momentum clearly on the visitors' side, it was time for the crowd to step up. Fueled by the noise coming from the stands, Bosnia and Herzegovina handed the ball over to Amar Gegic and Kenan Kamenjas and they delivered.

Hungary only scored 5 points throughout the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter, allowing their hosts to secure the win without stress. It finished 83-78, Kamenjas had a 20-point, 14-rebound double-double, Gegic finished with 14 and 8 assists, covering the point guard position as John Roberson was an unused sub in this one.

FIBA