FIN - Closing the gap

VILNIUS (EuroBasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Finland coach Henrik Dettmann has made no secret of his admiration for Lithuanian basketball.

The Baltic giants like to play an up-tempo, aggressive game and so do the Finns.

The Lithuanians, as history shows, have had tremendous success at EuroBaskets, FIBA World Championships and Olympic Games.

In recent years, 2008 and 2010, the teams met and Lithuania laid the wood to the Finns, winning by 32 and 28 points.

Before the two sides clashed in a friendly on Wednesday in Vilnius, Dettmann admitted: "Lithuania has for some time been our yardstick.

"It will be interesting to see if we have been able to catch up with them in recent years, to close the gap."

The performance was certainly an encouraging one for the Finns.

Lithuania rode their luck at the end and prevailed, 78-76.

The Finns shot 12 of 23 from long range and were only out-rebounded, 41-37.

Had Finland shot better than just 10 of 17 at the charity stripe, victory would have been theirs.

They led 42-39 at half-time but appeared to cave in after the restart with the hosts outscoring them 25-11 in the third quarter.

They lowered the boom at the end of the frame with a 9-0 run for a 64-53 advantage.

In the fourth quarter, Petteri Koponen helped bring Finland back.

His three-ball in the last minute reduced the deficit to 77-74.

Finland then converted a couple of opportunities at the free-throw line to pull to within one.

After Linas Kleiza made the first but missed the second of two free-throws for Lithuania, Koponen was able to get a good look from behind the arc but the potential game-winner only drew iron.

He finished four of eight from three-point range.

"A two-point loss is more annoying than a 20-point defeat but we're able to find a lot of positives from the game," said Koponen.

Kleiza was impressed.

"Finland have a very interesting team," he said.

The discipline, determination and team-oriented style of Finland is something to be admired, and it's why they will be a tough side in Group D at the EuroBasket next month when they take on Greece, Russia, Italy, Turkey and Sweden.

Lithuania will compete in Group B with Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Latvia and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD).

The EuroBasket is a qualifying event for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

FIBA