Seventh straight win for the Lithuanian National Team at the World Championships in Instanbul, Turkey. Lithuania played like true championship contenders managing to stun Argentina 104-85 in the Sinar Erdem Dome, and closing the Quarterfinals of the world challenge.
This win is a victory also for our agency because, in the strong Lithuanian roster, there are seven Interperformances players.
Among them, the 6.4” Tomas Delininkaitis and the 6.5” Martynas Pocius netted 16 points each. 12 points for the 6.5” guard Mantas Kalnietis who added moreover 5 assists and 5 rebounds. Jankunas Paulius grabbed 7 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists and scoring 12 points.
With this defeat Argentina cannot finish in the top four at the worlds, Olympics or FIBA Americas Championship for the first time since 2000. “There was only one team on the court tonight and that was Lithuania. They played marvelous. Their percentages were very good in the first half. We could not stop them. We were neither good at offense nor defense. I can only congratulate Lithuania” said the Argentinean NT coach.
"People thought we were an underdog coming in. The reason we're in this spot right now is because of our team chemistry." said Lithuania's Martynus Pocius.
The next team that the Baltic team will encounter will be the United States, in the semifinals, on Saturday, September 11.