SAN JUAN (Puerto Rico) - Lithuania put on an outside shooting clinic to defeat Italy, 88-64, Saturday evening and advance to the Final of the 2024 FIBA Qualifying Tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Kazys Maksvytis' squad prevailed in this European derby and remain unbeaten, to the delight of their small but faithful fan contingent at Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot.
Turning point
Lithuania went on a 21-4 run spanning the end of the second and the beginning of the third periods to open an 19-point lead and take full control of the action.
Italy fought back but the closest they got was 12 points late in the third.
TCL Player of the Game
Marius Grigonis set the tone for Lithuania early, scoring 15 of his 23 points in the first half.
The 30-year-old sharpshooter had it going from the outside and finished 6-for-10 from beyond the arc -- confirming his status as one of the top long-range bombers of the tournament.
Mindaugas Kuzminskas (14 points and 5 rebounds), Arnas Butkevicius (8 points and 8 rebounds) and Domantas Sabonis (6 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal) also had productive games for the winners.
Danilo Gallinari (15 points on a perfect 10-for-10 at the line) and Nicolo Melli (10 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals) were Italy's best performers of the night.
Stats don't lie
Lithuania's relentlessness on the offensive glass was the key that unlocked the rest of their game.
The winners had a 15-5 edge in offensive rebounds and translated those extra possessions into gold. The 15-4 advantage in second-chance points explained a decent chunk of the winning margin. The rest was done on defense, where Lithuania held Italy to 40 percent from the floor and just 26 points in the second half.
Lithuania went 12-for-30 from downtown to first break the game open and then expand their lead until the final buzzer. Italy shot just 6-for-21 from long distance.
Bottom line
Lithuania now find themselves one victory away from returning to the Olympics after missing out on Tokyo 2020 - an absence that snapped what was until then a perfect attendance at the Games since they regained independence in 1991.
With the loss, Italy won't be able to defend their 5th place at the last Olympics or commemorate the 20th anniversary of their historic 2004 Athens silver medal.
They said
"Congratulations to Lithuania, they played really well. Congratulations to (coach) Maksvytis and his staff. We tried to do our best. The players did their best on Sabonis and we let him score just 6 points, but of course then they abused us from three-point (range). Grigonis at one point was 6-for-7. Even offensively, we tried to do our best. We had 20 assists, more than them, but we had a lot of open shots we didn’t make. We tried until the end but then we ran out of energy." -Gianmarco Pozzecco, Italy head coach
"Today Lithuania played better than us. They were in front of us the entire game, so congrats to them. For this tournament, we knew qualifying to the Olympics was going to be tough for us. We came here with hope and the intention to do it, but we were not able to do it. Congrats to Puerto Rico, who beat us 2 days ago, and to Lithuania. We’re very proud of the team and we put everything we had on the court. We don’t have anything to regret." -Nicolo Melli, Italy center
"First of all, congratulations to our Lithuanian fans. Today we are celebrating our national day, so we are very happy to get this victory for our fans. This was one of our best games of the tournament, but of course it’s not enough now. We need to forget this game as soon as possible and prepare for our upcoming game." -Kazys Maksvytis, Lithuania head coach
"I think today we should be really happy for our team because everybody who participated gave their effort. We won the rebounds, which shows that we fought really well. I think right now we’re happy, but when this press conference finishes, we should prepare for tomorrow because our goal wasn’t just to reach the final. Our goal is to reach the Olympic Games." -Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Lithuania power forward
FIBA