Masterpiece by Luka Doncic earns Slovenia historic Olympic berth / News - Basketnews.com

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With Luka Doncic displaying one of the best performances of his career, Slovenia beat hosts Lithuania by 85-96 (24-28, 28-24, 17-28, 16-16) and earned a place in the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games through the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament held in Kaunas. This will be their first-ever appearance in the big event. On the other hand, this will be Lithuania's first absence from the Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament since 1992.

Player of the Game EFF 41 Luka Doncic Points 31 Accuracy 13-23 Rebounds 11 Assists 13

Doncic poured 31 points on 13 for 23 from the field, 11 rebounds, and 13 assists on a historic night for himself and his country's basketball. Nevertheless, Luka was by no means alone in that one. Jaka Blazic showed why he had a great season, putting up 16 points in 24 minutes, Vlatko Cancar proved to be one of his team's cornerstones and Mike Tobey, who had to deal with foul trouble early on, chipped in another 13.

For Lithuania, the second unit provided offensive firepower, with Bendzius scoring 11 points, Butkevicius 14 (4 rebounds, 3 assists), but the inability to curtail the Slovenian output was detrimental to their comeback attempts. Valanciunas and Kalnietis scored 14 apiece, Grigonis added 10 on a poor 3 for 14 from the field.

In a wildly entertaining showdown in front of 11.561 Lithuanian fans, Slovenia took an early lead thanks to Jaka Blazic being on fire. The former KK Cedevita Olimpija guard scored 10 points in the first six minutes. On the other end, Jonas Valanciunas's towering figure was the cause of most problems for the visiting side. The Raptors' big capitalized on the balls he received in the low post.