TAMPERE (Finland) - Lithuania booked their place in the Round of 16 with an 81-78 victory over hosts Finland in front of the third straight 12,900 sell-out at the Tampere Deck Arena.
The Baltic side held Finland's star Lauri Markkanen to just 7 points in the first half, while they shot 50 percent in a solid opening 20 minutes. The hosts hit back, but Lithuania held their nerve to punch their ticket to Riga.
Turning Point
In a bruising first quarter, Lithuania managed to silence Markkanen. However, the hosts found Mikael Jantunen inspired as he scored 8 points to give his side the edge.
Lithuania, though, executed well in the second period, outscoring Finland 25-15 to take a 45-36 cushion, led by the floor general Rokas Jokubaitis, as they held on to the victory despite Finland staying on their tail throughout.
The hosts had their spell and cut the deficit to 76-71 with less than a minute to go. Then Tadas Sedekerskis buried a corner-pocket three with 27.5 seconds to play to seal the win.
TCL Player of the Game
Playing in his first EuroBasket, Azuolas Tubelis announced himself on the big stage as he posted 12 points and 11 rebounds. He becomes only the third Lithuanian player to combine for more than 10 points and more than 10 rebounds in a EuroBasket game in the 21st century, alongside Linas Kleiza and Jonas Valanciunas.
Jokubaitis added 16 points and 9 assists - his fifth straight game with more than 10 points and 5 assists at a EuroBasket - before being forced off two minutes into the final period through injury. Markkanen led Finland with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists.
Stats Don't Lie
Lithuania is now unbeaten in 33 games at EuroBasket when leading by more than 8 points at the half. Holding Markkanen to 3-for-9 shooting and 7 points at the break was pivotal to their success. On the other hand, Finland has now lost 37 consecutive games when trailing by more than 8 points at halftime.
Finland gave up 17 offensive rebounds, having given up fewer than 13 in their last 10 EuroBasket games. As a result, Lithaunia scored 14 second-chance points.
Bottom Line
Hosts Finland will square off against Germany in their final Group Phase game as they look to keep their hopes of topping Group B. Lithuania will conclude their games in Tampere against Sweden.
They Said
"We're happy because we beat a really strong team at home, it's not easy, with a lot of spectators, good spectators. I don't want to talk about the numbers; you saw what happened on the court. We play good defense and good rebounding. We could score a little bit better, but it was enough to win today," - Rimas Kurtinaitis, Lithuania head coach.
"We got a win, that's all I care about. Personally, I could make smarter fouls and finish better around the rim, that's it," - Marek Blazevic, Lithuania.
"Lithuania was ready, but in the beginning, we were also very ready and had energy. It was a good start to the game, but they had a plan, and they are the best rebounding team in the EuroBasket so far and they upgraded their numbers tonight but they the way they executed their game plan and it got us a little shaky and slow," - Lassi Tuovi, Finland head coach.
"They [were] a different team to play against, with how they treated Lauri that gave us a lot of information going forward in the tournament," - Alexander Madsen, Finland.
For more quotes, tune in to the official post-game press conference!
*Stats provided by Opta.
FIBA