Eurobasket 2009 hosts are enjoying a decent start after having two wins out of two games. Poland made an upset by beating Lithuania in front of a packed Centennial Hall in Wroclaw. The red&whites were encouraged by the support of their fans and sent a warning message to their opponents early in the game as they took 12-2 lead early in the game.
A couple of substitutions for Lithuania got them back in the game. The 10-point gap was quickly reduced. Krzysztof Szubarga hit a three pointer to give his team the lead after the first quarter 25-23.
The second quarter started in a similar way as the first one with Lithuanian trying to kill the tempo but instead being overrun by the Poles. The hosts were scoring easily compared to the paralysed offence of their opponents. Poland won the second quarter comfortably 17-9 to enter the locker room with a 10-point lead.
Second half didn't bring much changes as Poland was holding on their lead and not giving away a single point. In fact Eurobasket 2009 hosts even reached a record lead of 13 points once in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter was still a status quo. Lithuanians were struggling to guard Polish players. Michal Ignerski hit three consecutive three-point shots to give his team a 15-point lead with less than eight minutes left to play. Poland answered to every single shot by Lithuania to win the game 86-75.
The Poles will face Turkey in a group winner deciding game. While Lithuania will try to reach the second round in a game against Bulgaria.
75 – Lithuania – (23+9+18+25): Simas Jasaitis 21, Jonas Maciulis 14, Marijonas Petravicius 13, Linas Kleiza 6, Robertas Javtokas 6, Arturas Jomantas 5, Tomas Delininkaitis 4, Ksystof Lavrinovic 3, Andrius Mazutis 2, Darjus Lavrinovic 1.
86 – Poland – (25+17+18+26): Maciej Lampe 22, David Logan 19, Michal Ignerski 16, Marcin Gortat 15, Krzysztof Szubarga 12, Krzysztof Roszyk 2.
