Latvia cruise to win over Lithuania in battle for fifth

MANILA (Philippines) - Latvia celebrate the Arturs Day in Manila. Arturs Kurucs led them in scoring, Arturs Zagars set a new record in assists in a one-way street win over Lithuania in the fifth place game.

 

It finished 98-63, giving Latvia the bragging rights for at least another year, as they finish fifth, just a step ahead of their neighbors in sixth.

Turning point: Tip-off. Lithuania had no energy whatsoever, Vaidas Kariniauskas and Eimantas Bendzius did not enter the game, making the short rotation even shorter.

Latvia put up 28 points in the first quarter, then won the third 28-9, making this a stressless day in the Mall of Asia Arena for the majority of 9,440 fans. A smaller group of Lithuanian fans barely got a chance to applaud their heroes, the game was headed to -40 from their point of view.

TCL Player of the Game: Arturs Kurucs had arguably his best game of the World Cup, posting 20 points with 6 three-pointers to go with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. This resulted in an EFF of 23 and Kurucs being named TCL Player of the Game.

Additionally, Latvia had a memorable World Cup debut, and other than their fans, the story is about their point guard. Arturs Zagars made a name for himself as a free agent, and he signed off with a new World Cup record.

The point guard dished out 17 assists in just 26 minutes of work, the most in a single game by any player since assists became a part of the boxscore in 1994. If this were a closer game, he could've gone for 20 assists easily, since he had 10 already at halftime.

Then again, the game was not as close because of his passing. He also had 4 points and 6 rebounds, too, and did not turn the ball over at all!

Stats don't lie: Latvia's shooting splits? Field goals 51 percent, threes 50 percent, free throws 67 percent. Lithuania's shooting splits from the same respective distances? 35-19-50...

Bottom line: Latvia's offense was a thing of beauty and coach Luca Banchi can be proud of what he has created. In this game, it was Arturs Kurucs who scored 20 points on six threes made, setting his World Cup career-high, one which he will chase in years to come.

With his 20-point game, Latvia joined Germany as the only other team to have six different players with 20 or more points in a game. Dairis Bertans, Davis Bertans, Rolands Smits, Arturs Zagars and Andrejs Grazulis have previously reached that mark in this FIBA Basketball World Cup event.

Lithuania ran out of gas in the final game of the World Cup, but they finally made it back among the top eight teams in the world. Rokas Jokubaitis led them with 16 points in this one.

They said:

FIBA