OLYM - Russia hold off Lithuania to reach Semi-Finals

LONDON (Olympics) - Russia booked their place in the Semi-Finals of the Olympic Basketball Tournament for Men by beating Lithuania 83-74 on Thursday.

In the first Olympic Basketball game played at the North Greenwich Arena, the Russians built a double-digit lead in the third quarter and held off several rallies by the Lithuanians to prevail.

It is the first time that Lithuania have not reached the Semi-Finals at the Olympics since they gained independence in 1990.

The Russians will face the winners of the France v Spain Quarter-Final.

David Blatt's team had the better start to the game, leading 17-10 at the end of the first quarter behind the energised play of Andrei Kirilenko who was involved in just about every play at both ends of the floor.

Thanks to the scoring punch of veterans Rimantas Kaukenas and Darius Songaila, the Lithuanians came back and got within 25-21 in the second period, but the Russians went into halftime with a 32-25 cushion.

After the break, Russia remained in the ascendency and were up 41-32 as Aleksey Shved fed a streaking Timofey Mozgov on the fastbreak for a three-point play.

They had their first double-digit lead, 44-32, when Victor Khryapa connected from beyond the arc midway through the period.

Later Mozgov dunked on Jonas Valanciunas on consecutive possessions to stretch the advantage to 51-37.

Lithuania were not done yet and a 13-3 spurt spearheaded by Mantas Kalnietis got them within 54-50 heading into the final frame.

Kestutis Kemzura's charges kept on coming in the fourth quarter, with Kaukenas' three-pointer getting them within 54-53 but Khryapa answered with one of his own to end a nearly four-minute scoreless stretch for Russia.

Lithuania showed off some great ball movement punctuated by Valanciunas to be within 57-55.

Sergei Monya stepped up for Russia, hitting a three-pointer from the corner and then taking a nice behind the back pass from Ponkrashov for a lay-up and a foul that put Russia up 64-55.

Kalnietis hit a deep three to get his team within 69-63 but Monya answered right back by connecting from deep.

Lithuania were within 77-72 when Songaila converted a three-point play with 1:35 left to play.

Shved missed a pair of free-throws but Lithuania could not capitalise as Kalnietis turned the ball over at the other end and Russia closed out the game.

Kirilenko finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead five Russia players in double digits.

Kaukenas paced Lithuania with 19 and Songaila added 15 in his last game for the national team.

"It was a hard-fought, sportive battle between two teams that know each other well, players that have played together and against each other for years and coaches that have gone head to head," said Russia coach David Blatt.

"We're thankful we won the game. It was not easy. We fought our hearts out."

Blatt paid tribute to his team captain Monya, who shook off a shooting slump to make the big shots down the stretch.

"Sergey Monya, our captain, is the face of everything we do, the face of Russia. He has played in every game for Russia in the seven years I have been with the team.

"He came up the biggest at the right time. He made the two biggest shots of the game and maybe of our career together."

Kemzura praised Russia.

"Today we faced a really strong opponent. Russia have played great basketball in this tournament, moving a lot, defending and sharing the ball," he said.

"We tried to take our chances. At the beginning we were nervous and turned the ball over too much. We were struggling offensively.

"We turned over the ball too much today. All those turnovers become points.

"In the third quarter, Kalnietis and Kaukenas gave us an edge and made shots and we came back. But at the end of the game, we threw the ball out of bounds at crucial moments.

"I think Russia played better overall and deserved to win."

FIBA