AUCKLAND (FIBA U19 World Championship) - Lithuania have finished as the 4th ranked European team at the FIBA U19 World Championship, after defeating Spain by 24 points to claim 9th place at the tournament.

The Lithuanians controlled the game from the first whistle, leading 22-15 at quarter time, 43-28 at half time, 67-50 at the last break and 88-64 at full time.

Vytenis Cisauskas was the class player on the court, recording 20 points and 6 rebounds by half time, and finishing with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Gediminas Orelik had his most productive game of the tournament, nailing 6 three pointers in the second half on his way to 30 points and 9 rebounds.

For Spain, who didn’t come closer than 11 points after half time, Toni Vicens (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Daniel Perez (11 points, 5 assists) continued their consistent world championship campaigns, but received little help, with only Julio Sosa (11 points) joining them in double figures.

Lithuania finish the tournament with a 5-3 record, while Spain claim 10th position with a 4-4 win-loss ratio.


Matas Sapiega, Lithuania captain :

“I am very proud of my team, because they had the right attention to this game and finished with a nice win.

It was nice because our team has only four players from the U18 team, so others are new and we had only one month of practice, but I am proud because our team became a real team I think.”

FIBA