FIBA
Photo: FIBA

Lithuania claimed their seventh straight victory in the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers (7-0), whereas Slovenia are close to elimination (2-5).

The Lithuanians survived Croatia (3-4 record) in a classic European derby (83-84) and are one step away from qualifying to the World Cup.

Four players scored in double figures for the winners, with Eimantas Bendzius having 16 points. On the other hand, Bojan Bogdanovic had 22 points for the losing squad.

FIBA
Photo: FIBA

In the other matches of Group J, Italy (5-2) decimated Poland (3-4) at home (101-82) and Hungary (4-3) beat the Netherlands (3-4) on the road (59-74).

Slovenia lost to Latvia (5-2) on the road (85-74) and are close to being eliminated. A 25-14 run in the fourth quarter helped the hosts beat the 2017 European champions.

Janis Timma and Janis Strelnieks both scored 18 points for the winners. Luka Rupnik had 19 points for the Slovenians.

Friday’s qualifying matches saw Ukraine (4-3) prevail over Spain (6-1) in Group I (76-65). At the same time, Turkey was victorious over Montenegro at home (79-69).