EuroBasket - Lithuania return to Final

LJUBLJANA (EuroBasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Lithuania will fight for their fourth European title after beating Croatia 77-62 in Friday's first EuroBasket 2013 Semi-Final and setting up a Final showdown with either France or two-time reigning champions Spain on Sunday.

Linas Kleiza set the tone in the first half with 17 of his 22 points while also collecting 11 rebounds and two assists. Jonas Maciulis drained four three-pointers in scoring 23 points for the Lithuanians, who will add title number four after triumphs in 1937, 1939 and 2003 or a second silver following 1995.

"It is important for us, for our generation, now that most of the older guys have left the team. Our generation has proved that we can play basketball and represent Lithuania too," said Maciulis.

"I think we have proved something now and we need to take one more step."

Lithuania coach Jonas Kazlauskas said he is happy and proud of his team.

"When we started preparations, many people were talking bad about us, were saying that this team can do nothing here. But now we have found our rhythm and we are happy that we will play in the final," he said.

Croatia saw their eight-game winning streak snapped despite 15 points from Bojan Bogdanovic. The Balkan side will take on the loser of the second Semi-Final between France and Spain in Sunday's Third-Place Game.

"Honestly, from the first second (Lithuania) seemed to be stronger, faster, more reactive. They are stronger physically but they also looked much more fresh than our team," said Croatia coach Jasmin Repesa.

Croatia had the slightly better start, moving ahead 7-4. Maciulis knocked down two early three-pointers before Kleiza began to take command of the game. The former NBA star offered an array of scoring moves and totaled 12 points in the first quarter. Lithuania's biggest lead of the quarter was five points and they were ahead 24-19 after 10 minutes.

Kleiza did not cool off in the second quarter and pushed the lead to 29-20 before going to the bench. Croatia used that as an opportunity and went on an 11-2 run, including a triple by Damjan Rudez and two scores by Luka Zoric to tie the game at 31-31. The Lithuanians then fed the ball into Jonas Valanciunas, whose six points helped give the Baltic side a 40-37 lead at the break.

Maciulis opened the second half with a triple and added a second one as well as a three-point play in an 18-3 run, which ended with a Mantas Kalneitis long ball for a 58-40 advantage. The Lithuanian lead was still 61-45 after three quarters.

Croatia could not solve the Lithuanian defense and the Baltic side continued their march forward offensively, pushing the lead out to 20 points, 69-49. A mini 7-1 Croatia run trimmed the margin to 70-56 with four minutes to play but Kleiza scored his first points since the first half on a triple to silence the Croatian rally.

For full and in-depth coverage of EuroBasket 2013, go to the official website http://www.eurobasket2013.org.

FIBA