ISTANBUL (Türkiye) - Lithuania may be still waiting for NBA star big man Jonas Valanciunas but they rolled to a second win in two preparation games with a comfortable 91-70 victory over Türkiye in Istanbul.
Valanciunas watched from the sidelines but Rimas Kurtinaitis' team powered through an impressive first half, taking the second quarter 31-19 to lead 52-31 at the break. Türkiye never threatened the rest of the way,.
Lithuania came into the game having beaten Estonia 89-68 in Panevezys while the Turks were playing their first game ahead of this summer's big event, with Alperen Sengun also making a brief appearance.
Top performers: Margiris Normantas paced Lithuania with 15 points while Rokas Jokubaitis collected 13 points to go with 6 rebounds and 7 assists and Tadas Sedekerskis chipped in 10 points.
Cedi Osman poured in 17 points for Türkiye and Furkan Korkmaz scored 15 points in the loss.
Up next: Türkiye's next game will be as part of the SuperCup in Munich Germany, where they will play against the reigning world champions Germany on August 15. Lithuania meanwhile will next take on Georga on Sunday August 10 in Kaunas.
Other games
Spain 87-73 Czechia
Spain bounced back from their loss to Portugal and pulled away from Czechia in the second half for an 87-73 victory. Spain star Santi Aldama watched from the sidelines but Spain still had enough balance to beat the Czechs. Josep Puerto scored 15 points to pace five Spanish players in double figures and Willy Hernangomez chipped in 10 points and 7 rebounds. Jaromir Bahocik tallied 11 points for the Czechs, who were playing without star playmaker Tomas Satoransky.
Georgia 70-75 Estonia
Estonia made it two wins in a row as they beat Georgia behind closed doors in Riga, 75-70. The Baltic side defeated Israel two days earlier and are now 2-1 in preparation games. Georgia have lost twice thus far, also falling to Israel in Riga.
Spain B 80-75 Portugal
Two days after beating the reigning European champions Spain in Malaga, Portugal lost to the Spain B team in Malaga, 80-75. Portugal rallied from 17 points down to beat the A team but could not hold a 15-point advantage on the B team. The Portuguese lost on a final score by Spain with 35 seconds to play. Neemias Queta paced Portugal with 12 points and 5 rebounds while Rafael Lisboa scored 12 points with 4 assists.
Team | Record | Win % |
|---|---|---|
Italy | 2-0 | 100% |
Serbia | 2-0 | 100% |
Lithuania | 2-0 | 100% |
Greece | 1-0 | 100% |
France | 1-0 | 100% |
Estonia | 2-1 | 67% |
Portugal | 1-1 | 50% |
Israel | 1-1 | 50% |
Poland | 1-2 | 33% |
Spain | 1-1 | 50% |
Belgium | 0-1 | 0% |
Montenegro | 0-1 | 0% |
Türkiye | 0-1 | 0% |
Czechia | 0-2 | 0% |
Georgia | 0-2 | 0% |
Iceland | 0-2 | 0% |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0-3 | 0% |
FIBA