SAN JUAN (Puerto Rico) - Showing nerves of steel and solid execution down the stretch, Lithuania took care of business on Wednesday by defeating Côte d'Ivoire 97-93 at Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot.
With the win, the squad coached by Kazys Maksvytis finished atop Group A and advanced to the Semi-Finals of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Turning point
Down 88-82 with 2:48 left in the fourth quarter, Marius Grigonis scored five consecutive points to bring Lithuania back from the brink. Domantas Sabonis then tied the game at 90 before Lukas Lekavicius got his hero turn.
The 30-year-old reserve point guard, who started the second half in place of Rokas Jokubaitis, got a tough floater to go and then drained a three-pointer from the right wing to make it 95-93 with 41 seconds to go.
Côte d'Ivoire then had a pair of chances to tie or take the lead but long-range attempts from Assemian Moulare and Solo Diabate were off the mark, to the delight of the raucous Lithuanian crowd in the stands.
TCL Player of the Game
Sabonis led the way for Lithuania with 22 points, 9 rebounds and a 24 efficiency. He went 9-for-12 from the field and added an assist and a steal. Grigonis added 18 points, while Edgaras Ulanovas produced 10 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
Dean Thompson contributed 18 points and 2 rebounds for the African squad, who also had Nisre Zouzoua (13), Moulare (12, 5 rebounds and 7 assists), Jean Philippe Dally (12) and Diabate (12) in double digits.
Stats don't lie
Lithuania shot 54 percent from the field while holding their opponents to just 42 percent. That allowed them to overcame 16 turnovers to just 8 for The Elephants.
The Europeans also won the paint battle 50-36. Meanwhile, Côte d'Ivoire won points off turnovers 21-9.
Bottom line
The Europeans will now face the second-place team out of Group B on Saturday as they seek to return to the Olympic Games after their Tokyo 2020 absence.
Côte d’Ivoire will play Mexico on Thursday in a winner-take-all contest for the second ticket to the next round.
They said
"We played a very good game. It's the game we wanted and the game we prepared for. We started with the right mentality, put in the energy and concentration and I think that we kept that for the whole game when maybe everybody expected we would be out, and Lithuania would (chip away) at the score little by little." - Natxo Lescano, Côte d'Ivoire head coach
"It was a good game and we just lost it on the details. I’m very proud of what we did tonight against a team that plays at a high level. We just need to stay focused. We have another game tomorrow and we will try to play the same." - Vafessa Fofana, Côte d'Ivoire forward
"They played very physical and they forced us into a lot of turnovers. We had a lot of offensive fouls and felt nervous at the time. Lots of bonus fouls and they got to shoot a lot of free throws. They just played physical to show their face and from the start they pushed us out of position. They slowed us down and almost cost us." - Kazys Maksvytis, Lithuania head coach
"We came out kind of soft and they pushed us around. They were physical and the refs are letting us be physical here, so we gotta take that to our advantage starting on the Semi-Final, you know, because it's a win or go home." - Domantas Sabonis, Lithuania power forward
FIBA