Home FIBA FIBA World Championship 2010 Lithuania defeat France to win Group D

Lithuania defeat France to win Group D

LithuaniaLithuania booked the first place in Group with a 69-55 win against France.  Lithuania is one of four teams in the tournament that still haven’t experienced a single loss.
It was going to be a battle for every centimetre of the court since this game decided which team will finish first in Group D. The score was tied at 9 midway through the first quarter before France started to pull away. Nicolas Batum nailed two three-pointers while Nando De Colo and Mickael Gelabale scored a three-pointer each in the second half of the first quarter. Lithuanians struggled to respond as France were up 24-11 after the first 10 minutes of play.

Lithuanians tightened their defence and allowed only six points in their basket in the second quarter. Martynas Pocius and Jonas Maciulis were the top scorers as they helped their team to narrow the gap to 6 points before the half time.

Despite efforts to score by French players in the third quarter it was a different game. The greens turned the game upside down and took control of it. Kleiza, Pocius and Maciulis were breaking French defence. With less than two minutes left to play Lithuania was already up by 11 points.

The final period saw Lithuanians finding their shot and pulling further away from their opponents. The sense of the fourth win was in the arena. France tried to come back late in the fourth quarter but it wasn’t enough.

Score by quarters: 11-24; 13-6; 28-11; 17-14.

Lithuania: Jonas Maciulis 19, Linas Kleiza 15, Mantas Kalnietis 9, Martynas Pocius 8, Renaldas Seibutis 6, Tadas Klimavicius 5, Tomas Delininkaitis 3, Paulius Jankunas 2, Robertas Javtokas 2.

France: Nicolas Batum 13, Mickael Gelabale 10, Nando De Colo 9, Boris Diaw 9, Ali Traore 6, Andrew Albicy 3, Alain Koffi 2, Ian Mahinmi 2, Yannick Bokolo 1,

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