Basketball
Olympic Basketball: Lithuania books playoff spot, faces Russia next
Reuters
LONDON – Darius Songaila and Sarunas Jasikevicius each scored 13 points and Lithuania clinched the last available berth in the Olympic men’s basketball medal playoffs with a 76-63 victory over Tunisia on Monday.
The victory lifted Lithuania to 2-3 in preliminary round play and secured a berth against arch-rival Russia in Wednesday’s knockout quarter-finals while Tunisia went home winless.
Songaila gave the Lithuanians their first lead of the game at 56-54 on a three-point play with 8:58 remaining, but Tunisia battled back to level at 59-59 on Mourad El Mabrouk’s jumper with 8:31 to play.
Lithuania followed with a 13-3 run to seal the victory, with Renaldas Seibutis scoring all 10 of his points in the crucial span by sinking two 3-pointers and hitting four free throws.
Simas Jasaitis and Rimantas Kaukenas each added 10 points for Lithuania while captain Amine Rzig led Tunisia with 17 points and Salah Mejri added 16 in a losing cause.
