Late punch gives France new life, sends Lithuania into 0-2 hole

COLOGNE (Germany) - France  injected life into their FIBA EuroBasket 2022 campaign as they picked up their first victory in Group B in a 77-73 clash of titans with Lithuania.

 A sell-out crowd of 18,017 saw a battle of two teams desparate to win after dropping their opening game. And now Lithuania have to dig deep to reach the Knockout Phase.

Turning Point: Lithuania opened a 13-point lead midway in the first quarter only to see France push back and even the game early in the second quarter. It remained a tight game and Lithuania were up 64-62 when France mounted a 9-0 spurt to lead 71-64 with 2 minutes to play. Rokas Jokubaitis hit two late three-pointers to make it a one-point game. But Rudy Gobert iced the game with two free throws with 1.7 seconds left.

TCL Player of the Game: With France star center Rudy Gobert tangled up with opposing NBA big man Jonas Valanciunas, it was Evan Fournier who shined for Les Bleus with 27 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

Stats Don't Lie: France committed only 9 turnovers and were able to limit Lithuania to just 30 percent on three-pointers.

Bottom Line: France have a chance to make it two in a row as they next face Hungary on Sunday. Lithuania meanwhile are behind the eight-ball at 0-2 with a matchup coming against the undefeated hosts Germany. 

They Said: "This was really good for our confidence, especially after losing the first game of the championship. Today we did pretty good. We gotta go back, rest, and get ready for the back-to-back. The game tomorrow is going to be a war. The team that plays with more energy will win. Our team is based that everybody can score, everybody can bring something to the game that can change it and it helps us a lot. Today is was Evan (Fournier). He was incredible, hitting every shot when we needed it." - Guerschon Yabusele, France 

"It was too easy for them at the beginning. But once we picked up our intensity we started to be the team we wanted to be. They were about to fight back but we didn’t give up. We kept playing our basketball and we made plays down the stretch." - Rudy Gobert, France

"We needed it but we didn't take it. It's tough right now. We just need to win games. That's it. It sounds simple but it's not simple." - Jonas Valanciunas, Lithuania

"Tough loss, especially coming off the tough one against Slovenia. So, two back-to-back tough losses. I don't think anything changes with the mission. We're here to win, we're going to keep our confidence up and continue to believe in each other." - Ignas Brazdeikas, Lithuania

 
FIBA