Grigonis, Kuzminskas furious over referees mistake, Lithuania files protest / News - Basketnews.com

The referees of the game missed a free throw that could have changed the outcome of the game between Lithuania and Germany. According to BasketNews sources, Lithuania has filed a protest.

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The referees and the table officials together with the inspector of the match missed a free throw in the game in Cologne between Lithuania and Germany that could have changed the outcome of the game.

Player of the Game EFF 32 Franz Wagner Points 32 Accuracy 12-20 Rebounds 8 Assists 2

At the end of the third quarter with just over a minute to go, the head coach of the German national team, Gordon Herbert, received a technical foul, but no Lithuanian player was allowed to shoot a free throw for it.

Just before the technical, Jonas Valanciunas drew Maodo Lo's shooting foul. According to FIBA rules, the free throw for the technical foul was supposed to be shot before the two shots for the shooting foul.

However, only the two free throws for the regular foul were taken, JV missed them both and the Germans rebounded the ball.

At first, three missed free throws were recorded on the official scoresheet of the game. Later, the supposedly missed free throw for the technical foul was deleted.

"Their coach or their bench received a technical and we did not receive that shot," Lithuanian forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas said after the game. "After our coaches started protesting, the commissioner just sat there all red and did nothing."

Lithuania lost the game against Germany in a double-overtime thriller 107-109.

According to BasketNews sources, Lithuania has filed a protest. It is more of a procedural element though, which should not change the outcome of the match.

"I don't know, we should've won the game before [the overtime] just like the last two," Kuzminskas told BasketNews. "It's tough. That one shot that we weren't given cost us in the overtime. There's nothing you can do now. Maybe we paid too much attention to it."

"The last time, it was Gobert. Now we don't get a free throw for a technical foul. If these referees continue their job in the EuroBasket, I don't even know what to say about FIBA," Lithuanian guard Marius Grigonis was furious.

He confirmed the referees admitted the mistake.

"So what? It cost us the game. They will go home now, and that's all," Grigonis continued.

"I don't even know what to say when the referees forget to give a free throw. How is it even possible? That's high-school basketball," the New Orleans Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas added.

Lithuania head coach Kazys Maksvytis revealed the referees wanted to correct the mistake at the end of the regulation when the head referee acknowledged the error.

"But Germans protested against giving us a free throw shot claiming they will fill the protest then, and the referees were just too afraid of making the decision," Maksvytis confirmed.

The head coach also claimed that when he asked the referee why Lithuania didn't get a third free throw straight after the play, the official ordered me to sit down.

He doesn't expect the protest will change anything significantly.

"The game was so close, so you're fussy on every detail," Maksvytis added.

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