Greece has made it to the EuroBasket semifinals for the first time in sixteen years, downing Lithuania, 87-76 in Riga, Latvia on Tuesday.
Giannis Antetokounmpo poured in 29 points to carry his team into a semifinal matchup with Turkey. Greece stalled in the quarterfinals during four of the last five EuroBasket tourneys but broke through with a strong second-half effort.
Greece led 44-38 at the halftime break. Lithuania scored the first three points of the second half before Greece increased the cushion back to 51-41. It was 58-43 midway through the third quarter. Lithuania never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Giannis converted 9-of-15 shots and 11-of-16 free throws while scoring 29 points. He also added six rebounds, two assists, four steals, and a block. Vasileios Toliopoulos hit three 3-pointers while scoring 17 points, and Kostas Sloukas added 11 points and four assists.
Greece has won the EuroBasket twice
Greece moved to within just two wins of claiming its third EuroBasket crown, having previously won gold in 1987 and 2005.
“My players did a great job playing with a big heart in front of so many thousands of people from Lithuania in a very nice atmosphere,” said Vasileios Spanoulis, the head coach, according to FIBA.
Nuggets big man Jonas Valanciunas led Lithuania with 24 points and 15 rebounds. “Tonight was a battle. Both teams battled until the end. They were stronger,” Valanciunas said.
“They were better than us,” he added. “I was just happy we fought until the end, no matter what. It was a good fight.”
Related: Antetokounmpo Dominates as Greece Moves to EuroBasket Quarterfinals
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