Sabonis, Valanciunas give Lithuania just enough to survive fight in Hungary

SZOMBATHELY (Hungary) - Lithuania survived a tougher than expected fight in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers as they fended off Hungary 88-78 on the road in a Group K nail-biter.

The teams came into the game knowing they would face off in Group B of the FIBA EuroBasket in Cologne on in a few weeks time. Lithuania's big stars made the difference as both Domantas Sabonis and Jonas Valanciunas scored 17 points while Mindaugas Kuzminskas had 14 points, Rokas Jokubaitis tallied 12 points and Marius Grigonis chipped in 11 points. Adam Hanga poured in 21 points to lead Hungary in a losing effort. 

Turning point: Hungary had shrugged off an 11-point deficit from early in the second half and were hanging tough 77-76 with under three minutes to play in the game. Valanciunas grabbed a big offensive rebound and put it back and Kuzminskas followed with a three-point play to push the advantage to 82-76. Grigonis added a triple to decide the game for good.

Game hero: Valanciunas was just a force for Lithuania, scoring 17 points and securing 8 rebounds, not to mention getting Hungary's low-post players in foul trouble.

Stats don’t lie: Lithuania drained 11-of-21 three-pointers for 52.4 percent while Hungary converted just 6-of-20 (30 percent) which allowed Lithuania to keep Hungary at bay.

Bottom line: Lithuania took a big step towards the World Cup with a 6-1 record while Hungary dropped to 3-4 and will need to bounce back Saturday at Czech Republic. Lithuania will next host Montenegro on Saturday.

They said: "We knew that they were a very talented team. They have a lot of nice guards who can make tough buckets. And the environment, you can hear it. I'm glad we had a tough game like this, we need that kind of pressure." - Domantas Sabonis, Lithuania

"It's a completely different situation playing for my national team and my club. Obviously here I have much more responsibility on offense. I don't think I had a particularly good game today. I missed a lot of shots, made bad decisions. But I just tried to give my best for my team." -  Adam Hanga, Hungary

FIBA