Lithuania comfortably defeats Bosnia and Herzegovina to go to playoffs / News - Basketnews.com

Jonas Valanciunas and Domantas Sabonis combined for 25 points, 21 rebounds, and 9 assists to lead Lithuania past Bosnia and Herzegovina to secure a spot in the playoffs.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Lithuania (2-3) held a comfortable lead throughout the vast majority of the game to overcome Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-3) 87-70 (28-28, 28-14, 19-17, 12-11) and capture a spot in the EuroBasket 2022 playoffs.

Player of the Game EFF 30 Jonas Valančiūnas Points 13 Accuracy 4-7 Rebounds 15 Assists 5

Although the game was tied at 28 after the first quarter, Lithuania took over in the second. Leading by two (38-36), Lithuania went on a dominant 18-6 run to finish the first half, and was already leading by 14 (56-42).

Led by the big man duo of Jonas Valanciunas and Domantas Sabonis, Lithuania continued to dominate in the third quarter and started the last 10 minutes up by 16 (75-59).

Although Lithuania held a 15-point lead with under six minutes to go, Bosnia and Herzegovina started pushing to overcome the vast deficit. However, it was not enough. Having previously posterized Miralem Halilovic, with just 0.9 seconds to go on the shot clock, Arnas Butkevicius made a tough three-pointer to ice the game (84-70).

Lithuania will now play against Group A winner Spain in the Round of 16.

After making four three-pointers out of five in the first quarter, Marius Grigonis was the leading scorer on the Lithuanian team with 16, while also grabbing 6 rebounds along the way.

Jonas Valanciunas finished the match with a dominant double-double of 13 points and 15 rebounds. JV also added 5 assists to the tally, matching his career record with the Lithuanian jersey. Domantas Sabonis contributed with 12 points and 6 rebounds.

Dzanan Musa led the Bosnians with 22 points on 6-for-11 shooting. The newly-signed Real Madrid player seemed to have slightly pulled his groin muscle during the last minute of the game and did not finish the match.

Lithuania: Marius Grigonis 16 (4/6 3PT, 6 REB), Jonas Valanciunas 13 (4/7 2PT, 15 REB, 5 AST), Arnas Butkevicius 13 (3/6 3PT), Ignas Brazdeikis 13 (5/7 2PT, 1/5 3PT), Domantas Sabonis 12 (6 REB).

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Dzanan Musa 22 (4/8 2PT, 8/9 FT, 5 AST), Jusuf Nurkic 15 (5/9 2PT, 1/5 3PT, 5 REB).

Full game highlights:

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