Lithuania finally win, set up historic showdown with Bosnia and Herzegovina

COLOGNE (Germany) - Lithuania finally tasted success at the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 in knocking off Hungary 87-64 to remain alive in the fight for the Round of 16 and line up a historic showdown with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Just hours after France did their part to keep Lithuania alive by defeating Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazys Maksvytis' troops pulled away at the end of the first half half of the Group B encounter.  

 
Turning Point: The game was tight for the first 15 minutes and Hungary were even leading 29-28 when Lithuania finished the first half on a 20-2 run to lead 48-33 at the break. The Hungarians never threatened the rest of the way.

TCL Player of the Game: Domantas Sabonis was a model of efficiency for the dominating Lithuanians, scoring 19 points on 7-of-7 shooting and 4-of-5 free throws to go with 8 rebounds, 4 assists and no turnovers in 25 minutes of action.

Stats Don't Lie: Hungary, who were playing without Adam Hanga, were helpless in the post against Lithuania, who took the rebound battle 30-26 including offensive rebounds leading to a 12-point advantage on second chance points. Lithuania also held Hungary to just 37 percent from the field.

Bottom Line: Lithuania are just one victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday from forgetting about all the worries and near heartache of elimination from the Group Phase for the first time in EuroBasket history. There are no calculations needed: if Lithuania win, they are Berlin bound. If not, the Knockout Phase will miss out on the boisterous Lietuva fans and Bosnia and Herzegovina will advance for the first time since 1993. Hungary for their part hope to leave the tournament with a victory as they face hosts Germany in their final game.

They Said: "(The France vs Bosnia and Herzegovina game) was really important game for us. So we were following it. We tried to not follow it and do our job, no matter what, but I guess today we had a lucky day. We have it all in our hands now and we got to do. There's no way out, just do it or not." - Jonas Valanciunas, Lithuania

"I have never been such a France fan in my life. We couldn't concentrate on our game but once France beat Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was on us to win two games in a row: tonight and tomorrow against Bosnia. So we are happy with the first win, but for the maximum happiness we need to win tomorrow." - Rokas Jokubaitis, Lithuania

"(The fans) travel to every championship to support us. It’s sad we couldn’t give them a win over the weekend But we’re glad we could give them one today and the goal is to give them another one tomorrow." - Domantas Sabonis, Lithuania

"We came here to win games. So every time we go you there and we try to win. Tonight was no different. We played a very good team and they played well, but if we’re gonna go out there scared we may as well not go out there." - Gyorgy Goloman, Hungary

"Obviously the results are what we were hoping for, but the tournament’s been great. The on-the-court stuff hasn’t worked out how we wanted it to but overall I thought this experience is good." - Rosco Allen, Hungary

 
 FIBA