Merci! Lithuanian has chance at EuroBasket, thanks to France – WTOP News

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — Lithuanian basketball is known for a lot of things, including passionate fans.

They go everywhere to cheer for their national team. And at the EuroBasket tournament on Tuesday, they even cheered for France — for good reason.

Lithuania topped Hungary and that, combined with France’s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, means the last qualifying spot out of Group B is still unclaimed.

It’ll be decided Wednesday when Lithuania plays Bosnia and Herzegovina, the winner moving on to Berlin and a round-of-16 game, the loser heading home eliminated.

“Lithuanian fans are the best,” France guard Evan Fournier said.

Lithuania remaining alive was one of the big stories of the day at EuroBasket — another being Giannis Antetokounmpo, who scored 41 points as Greece handed Ukraine its first group-stage loss.

If France had lost Tuesday, Lithuania would have been eliminated. Instead, those Lithuanian fans serenaded the French with cries of “Merci!” for keeping their national team’s hopes alive.

“It feels amazing,” Lithuania forward Domatas Sabonis said. “They travel to every championship to support us. It’s sad we couldn’t give them a win over the weekend, but we’re glad we could give them one today and the goal is to give them another one tomorrow.”

LITHUANIA 87, HUNGARY 64

Jonas Valanciunas scored 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting, Sabonis added 19 and Lithuania (1-3) remained alive.

“Finally, we got a win,” Lithuania coach Kazys Maksvytis said. “We’ve got a chance for the next stage.”

Marius Grigonis had 15 points and Rokas Jokubaitis added 10 for Lithuania. Zoltan Perl scored 16 for Hungary (0-4), while David Vojvoda and Rosco Allen each finished with 10.

FRANCE 81, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 68

Thomas Heurtel’s 3-pointer with 5:49 left put France ahead to stay and started a game-ending 22-7 run for the winners, who were already assured of a spot in the round of 16.

Guerschol Yabusele scored 15 for France (3-1), while Heurtel and Fournier each had 14 and Rudy Gobert posted an 11-point, 12-rebound performance.

Jusuf Nurkic, Miralem Halilovic and Dzanan Musa all had 14 for Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-2), while John Roberson had 13 and Edin Atic finished with 10.

GROUP C

GREECE 99, UKRAINE 79

At Milan, Antetokounmpo simply overpowered Ukraine and ensured that Greece would finish atop its group.

Antetokounmpo — who got Monday off to rest — had his 41 points and nine rebounds in just 27 minutes to lead Greece (4-0).

He was 13 for 18 from the floor, 15 for 18 from the foul line.

Nick Calathes and Tyler Dorsey had 13 apiece for Greece.

Issuf Sanon and Svi Mykhailiuk each scored 16 for Ukraine (3-1), while Alex Len and Illya Sydorov added 10 apiece. Ukraine led by seven at the half, before Greece won the third quarter 32-11.

ESTONIA 94, GREAT BRITAIN 62

Henri Drell scored 20 points, Siim-Sander Vene added 18 and Estonia had no trouble on the way to its first win of the tournament.

Maik-Kalev Kotsar scored 15, Kristjan Kitsing added 14 and Janari Joesaar finished with 11 for Estonia (1-3).

Myles Hesson scored 14 for Great Britain (0-4), with Carl Wheatie and Patrick Whelan each scoring 12.

GROUP A

TURKEY 78, BELGIUM 63

At Tbilisi, Georgia, Alperen Sengun scored 24 points, Furkan Korkmaz had 16 and Turkey (3-1) remained tied atop Group A.

Ercan Osmani added 12 for Turkey.

Haris Bratanovic scored 15 for Belgium (2-2) and Hans Vanwijn scored 11.

SPAIN 82, MONTENEGRO 65

Spain (3-1) clinched its berth in the round of 16, with Dario Brizuela leading the way with 18 points.

Willy Hernangomez scored 14 for Spain, while Jaime Pradilla and Lorenzo Brown added 12 apiece.

Vladimir Mihailovic scored 18 for Montenegro (2-2), which got 11 from Marko Simonovic and 10 from Kendrick Perry.

GROUP D

POLAND 75, NETHERLANDS 69

At Prague, Poland was down by 13 in the third quarter before closing the game on a 39-20 run to tune up for its knockout-stage appearance.

Michal Sokolowski scored 24 for Poland (3-1), which got 16 from Aleksander Balcerowski and 10 from Jakub Garbacz.

Charlon Kloof led the Netherlands (0-4) with 26, and Yannick Franke scored 13.

FINLAND 98, CZECH REPUBLIC 88

Lauri Markkanen continued his strong tournament with 34 points and 10 rebounds, and Finland clinched its berth in the round of 16.

Sasu Salin scored 23 and Petteri Koponen added 14 for Finland, with Elias Valtonen finishing with 11.

Vojtech Hruban scored 22 for the Czech Republic, with Jan Vesely adding 15 and Patrik Auda and Jaromir Bohacik scoring 13 apiece.

WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE

First-round play in Groups A and B concludes, with Groups C and D getting the day off before they finish their round-robins on Thursday. Friday is an off day and the knockout round in Berlin starts Saturday.

Group A: Turkey (3-1) vs. Spain (3-1), Bulgaria vs. Belgium (2-2), Georgia vs. Montenegro (2-2). The Turkey-Spain winner will win the group.

Group B: Lithuania (1-3) vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-2), France (3-1) vs. Slovenia, Hungary (0-4) vs. Germany. France, Slovenia and Germany have already qualified, Hungary is eliminated and the Lithuania-Bosnia game is the one that matters most.

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