MIES (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - The start of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers is just around the corner. These in-season national team games qualifying aren't anything new on the old continent.

For a taste of what is to come in a couple of weeks, we only have to turn back the clocks and delve into a collection of classic matchups that took place in similar in-season qualification for the FIBA EuroBasket 2003.

Before their triumph at the Globe Arena in Stockholm in Europe's top basketball competition, the champions-to-be Lithuania toured the continent during five international windows between November 2001 and January 2003.

No team managed to reproduce Lithuania's unbeaten run (6-0) to the title in 2003 until Slovenia accomplished it 14 years later, at FIBA EuroBasket 2017.

Basketball fans in Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine - as well as in Lithuania's two major cities, Vilnius and Kaunas - had a chance to witness the country's extremely gifted generation of players in action prior to their golden run in Sweden.

Getting to lift the FIBA EuroBasket 2003 trophy in Stockholm was the culmination of Lithuania's journey that started in the Qualifiers

The Lithuanians' most iconic duel during the Qualifiers took place on the road, when they faced a powerful Turkish national team, featuring Ibrahim Kutluay, Mirsad Turkcan, Huseyin Besok and other all-time greats, in front of a packed Abdi Ipekci Arena in Istanbul on January 25, 2003.

The Lithuanians had won the first meeting in Vilnius, 100-62, behind a 19-point and 12-rebound double-double by center Eurelijus Zukauskas but the 11,300-strong crowd in Turkey made the return clash a year later an entirely different type of encounter.

Lithuania did get off to a better start once again, building a 31-18 lead in the second period spurred on by the excellent play of Virginijus Praskevicius and Arvydas Macijauskas. However, the Alper Yilmaz and Turkcan-led hosts mounted a 13-0 comeback to turn the game into a nail-biting back and forth.

At the end of the fourth quarter, Turkey seemed like the more likely team to come away with the win, having established an 82-75 advantage with three minutes to go.

It all looked like a wrap, when Turkcan tipped in a missed free-throw to push the home side's advantage to 88-84 with just 14 seconds to go in the contest, throwing his hands up in the air in celebration.

However, the celebrations proved premature as Donatas Slanina countered with a three-pointer from the corner and Sarunas Jasikevicius took advantage of Kerem Tunceri missing his second free-throw, by going coast-to-coast to tie the game at 89 and force overtime.

The extra period belonged to Lithuania, with early signs of the impending success at the FIBA EuroBasket 2003 manifesting themselves in the late-game turnaround and a 102-99 overtime victory.

The baby-faced assassin Macijauskas, then still a member of Lietuvos Rytas, finished with a game-high 29 points and 9 rebounds, while Jasikevicius collected 22 points and dished out 7 assists.

Slanina, who knocked down a pair of crucial three-pointers in the extra session, tallied 14 points, with Virginijus Praskevicius posting 13 points and 8 rebounds.

Turkey's lion-hearted giant Turkcan had a team-best 25 points, a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with 5 assists, while Besok and Kaya Peker chipped in with 19 and 18 points respectively.

Kutluay played a game-high 42 minutes against Lithuania

Kutluay had a poor shooting night, making just 4-of-15 from the field, for 11 points and 4 assists, as Tunceri added 7 points on 1-of-8 attempts with 4 assists.

Both teams went on to qualify for the FIBA EuroBasket 2003, with Lithuania marching to the Final without losing a single game and defeating the Pau Gasol-led Spain 93-84 in the Final.

For Turkey, runners-up at FIBA EuroBasket 2001 on home soil, the tournament in Sweden did not go as planned as they were eliminated by Serbia and Montenegro in the Eight-Finals.

Sarunas Jasikevicius won the MVP award at FIBA EuroBasket 2003

No team managed to reproduce Lithuania's unbeaten run (6-0) to the title until Goran Dragic and Slovenia accomplished it 14 years later at the FIBA EuroBasket 2017.

However, one thing does tend to get overlooked - Lithuania were not completely undefeated. They went 9-1 in the Qualifiers, with the lone loss coming at the hands of Ukraine, 89-82, in Kiev on January 23, 2002.

For those, who were present at those special games in Istanbul and Kiev, the memories are there to last. And one thing is certain: many more memorable moments like this will be created on the road to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China.

FIBA