Lithuania Falls to Croatia at Euro Championships
Jul 19 | Men's Basketball
BILBAO, SPAIN (July 19, 2011) - The Lithuania U20 National Team suffered an 82-76 loss to Croatia in the classification round of the 2011 FIBA European Championships on Tuesday. Rutgers rising sophomore forward Gilvydas Biruta (Jonava, Lithuania) had 13 points in 23 minutes off the bench, while shooting 46.2 percent (6-13) from the field.
The contest was close for its majority before Croatia utilized a 20-9 fourth quarter to earn the victory. Helped by a 38-33 rebounding advantage, Croatia shot 55.6 percent (35-63), while Lithuania made 41.4 percent (29-70) of its field goals.
Lithuania entered the European Championships on the heels of a victory over the United States U19 National Team and a 3-0 record to win the Torneo Internacional de Barakaldo, which included U20 wins over Italy, Montenegro and Spain, all of which advanced to the qualifying round of the Euro Championships. After defeating eventual Group D first place finisher Italy once again in its Championship opener, Lithuania has dropped four straight.
Lithuania returns to the hardwood on Wednesday to meet Austria, who suffered an 83-64 loss to Serbia on Tuesday.
For additional information on the Championships visit http://u20men.fibaeurope.com/en/default.asp.
