GYOR (EuroBasket Women 2015) - The excitement continues to flow at EuroBasket Women 2015 as Mantas Sernius and his Lithuania team celebrated a pulsating and spectacular comeback win against Russia.

Trailing by as many as 18 points against their neighbours as the Second Round got underway in Gyor, Lithuania came back from the brink of what had seemed an inevitable defeat by launching a truly remarkable rescue mission to secure a 78-74 triumph.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game because they have really good players and an advantage in every position," said a delighted Sernius.

"We had to play with extra energy and physicality to complete our fight back.

"Also our bench had to play double what their bench offered and that is what happened.

“I am proud of my players and it's a very good next step in terms of giving confidence to my team."

Certainly while Gintare Petronyte and Kamile Nacickaite caught the headlines for their combined 39 points, it was the injection of energy and aggression of bench players Marina Solopova and Monika Grigalauskye which changed the momentum.

Meanwhile in yet another thriller earlier in the day, Sonja Petrovic proved to be a game winner for Serbia in a riveting clash against Slovak Republic.

The forward showed her quality with a clutch play in the dying seconds to hand her team a 76-74 success and ensure they took a sizeable step towards the Quarter-Finals.

Serbia had laboured for much of the game and were down by five points heading into the last couple of minutes. Kristi Toliver had proved a real thorn in their side with 23 points for Slovak Republic.

But a priceless steal and score by Dajana Butulija, a huge triple by Nevena Jovanovic and the decisive move to the hoop by Petrovic allowed Serbia to ice a precious victory.

"I think the game reached expectations because it was obvious that whoever won, would more or less secure a Quarter-Final place," mused Petrovic afterwards.

"It was a really great game and they are really tough and organised because they have players who have been at Good Angels Kosice for so many years together in Euroleague Women with coach Maros Kovacik and it really shows.

"Then, when you add the quality of Toliver, you have a very good team.

"As far as we are concerned, hopefully after losing against Russia, this win will be a good start for us for future games in the tournament."

Expecting underdogs Croatia to produce the same kind of gripping finale when going up against defending champions Spain always looked like asking a little too much and so it proved.

Spain rattled off the first 13 points of the contest and rode to a comfortable 95-52 win as Marta Xargay had 16 points and seven steals, while Astou Ndour registered a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Go to EuroBasketWomen2015.com for full coverage of EuroBasket Women 2015.

FIBA