LTU - A better result two years later

LJUBLJANA (EuroBasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Lithuania have avoided the agony of defeat they experienced two years ago when they hosted EuroBasket 2011 and lost in the Quarter-Finals to The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD).

On Thursday night, the Baltic giants claimed a gritty 81-77 victory over Italy in the Last Eight at EuroBasket 2013 in Slovenia.

There is a palpable sense of relief for everyone in the Lithuania camp, including guard Martynas Pocius.

"The Quarter-Final game is the most important and difficult game of the entire tournament," Pocius said.

"You can play really well and lose in the Quarter-Finals.

"The big pressure is off right now. That doesn't mean that we don't want to win."

By winning the Quarter-Final, Lithuania clinched a spot at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

But Lithuania want more.

And to get it, on Friday they are going to have to beat a Croatia team that is riding an eight-game winning streak.

"Now, I think it's better for us," Pocius said.

"We can fight, we can focus without having that pressure. I don't even want to remember what happened two years ago. It still hurts.

"We're happy and we're where we want to be right now."

Since falling for the second time in the competition in a 78-72 Group B defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania have won four straight games.

Mantas Kalnietis has been sensational, too.

A day doesn't go by in Ljubljana when someone doesn't ask a Lithuania player if Kalnietis is capable of being the national team's point guard.

Against Italy, he had with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

"For him playing 39, almost 40 minutes and carrying the team like that, it's amazing," Pocius said.

"Because without him, I don't think we can play as well as we can.

"He's taken on all that pressure himself. So far, we're in the Semi-Finals. What more can we ask of him?"

Lithuania have extremely high standards.

They won the EuroBasket title in 2003 and finished third in 2007.

The team hasn't reached the podium in Europe since, although they did capture bronze at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

Getting to the World Cup is cause for celebration, but Lithuania's focus is on Ljubljana right now.

"That's great," Pocius said, "but we have to forget tonight (Thursday) and focus on tomorrow because it's going to be a really tough game with very little rest against a really good team with a great momentum."

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

FIBA