MADRID, 10 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish team got into the Eurobasket quarterfinals thanks to a spectacular comeback in the last few minutes after going behind on the scoreboard from the second quarter until the last two minutes of the game, when Scariolo’s team, led by a Lorenzo Brown, more than inspired, ended up winning the game in extra time, where the national team won 102-94.
The North American point guard, who finished with 28 points and eight assists, gave a master class in explosiveness in attack and calm when making decisions in the final stretch of the game, leading the Spanish comeback and being absolutely decisive in extra time, where became the focus of most of the plays.
The victory was achieved in a spectacular extra time, where Spain completely outpointed Lithuania and endorsed a 19-11 run in just five minutes, scoring practically on every possession in attack. The unhinged Baltic team found neither a way to stop Brown nor a way to score regularly, surviving by shooting from the three-point line, which was not enough.
The game started fairly evenly, from power to power. Willy Hernangómez, who finished with 21 points and eight rebounds, started the game very plugged in, the opposite of his New Orleans Pelicans teammate, Jonas Valanciunas, who committed two fouls in the first quarter and never connected to the game , an issue that was capital for Sergio Scariolo’s team. Despite that, the first set went to the Lithuanians 19-20 thanks to a triple by Lukas Lekavicius on the last possession.
The second quarter was where the game changed. Spain came out at a high level and managed to take a seven-point lead, but Lithuania reacted with the entry of Domantas Sabonis and turned the game around like a sock. The Baltics connected a streak that ended up serving to go into the break with a five lead, 40-45.
Far from reducing the difference, it increased in the third quarter, where Spain found themselves overtaken by a Lithuanian team that played comfortably and went on to gain an 11-point lead. In the last minutes, thanks to the energy of Rudy Fernández and Alberto Díaz, Scariolo’s team took a step forward and reached the last quarter again, losing only by five.
In the last set, Spain had a hard time reducing the gap on the scoreboard, where every time they got closer, they were beaten by a very successful outside line from Lithuania. Given the lack of performance from Valanciunas, Domantas Sabonis relied on Lukas Lekavicius, Ignas Brazdeikis and Mindaugas Kuzminskas, all three above 15 points, to maintain the level.
As the match entered the last four minutes, Spain plunged into the match, managing to get within a single point and making the Lithuanian team nervous. Lorenzo Brown tied the game at 2.23, and Xabi López-Arostegui put Spain ahead in the last two minutes, at a moment in the game where Alberto Díaz’s energy in defense and Usman Garuba’s ability to rebound gave the team the boost I needed.
The last possession was 83-81 for Spain and, despite the good defense, a pat by Ignas Brazdeikis put the game in extra time. What seemed like a boost for the Baltics, was really for La Familia, who went into extra time with one more march and ended up breaking the match thanks to a stellar Lorenzo Brown.
With the result of 102-94, Spain qualifies for the Eurobasket quarterfinals, where France, Slovenia and Germany were already, and now awaits a rival, which will be the winner of Finland – Croatia.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: SPAIN, 102 – LITHUANIA, 94 (40-45, at halftime).
SPAIN: Brown (28), Jaime Fernández (-), López-Arostegui (4), Pradilla (2), Willy Hernangómez (21) -five starters-, Rudy Fernández (13), Juancho Hernangómez (13), Díaz (8 ), Brizuela (5), Garuba (8), Parra (-), and Saiz (-).
LITHUANIA: Jokubaitis (13), Grigonis (8), Giedraitis (-), Valanciunas (5), Sabonis (15) -cinco inicial-, Brazdeikis (17), Butkevicius (3), Kuzminskas (18), Lekavicius (15) y Echod (-).
–PARTIALS: 19-20, 21-25, 23-23, 20-15 and 19-11.
– REFEREES: Yohan Rosso (Fra), Ademir Zurapovic (Bos) and Aleksandar Glisic (Ser). Eliminated due to personal fouls Butkevicius (min. 36) and Brazdeikis (min. 34).
–PAVILLION: Eurobasket Arena Berlin.
