Lithuanian national team has started the Olympic Qualifier Tournament (OQT) with a victory.
Team, coached by Darius Maskoliūnas sealed the win against the national team of Venezuela with the final score of 76 to 65 (11:10, 25:18, 19:16, 21:21).
Jonas Valančiūnas led the team with the terrific game performance. The centre scored a total of 20 points and added 11 rebounds.
The President of the Republic of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, together with LKF Sports Director Ramūnas Butautas were also present in the arena.
This was only the first of two games of the Lithuanian national team in the group stage. The second game will be played against South Korea in two days – on the 1st of July.
First quarter of the game was very low-scoring and after 10 minutes of play the Lithuanians had a minimal advantage – 11:10.
In the second quarter, Lithuanians led by Jonas Valančiūnas, had an amazing run in the offence withdrew, however, the opponents also found their way to easy baskets and tied the score – 28:28. However, 8 to nothing run by the green machine at the end of the 2nd quarter allowed Lithuanians to have a slight advantage – 36:28.
After the half time, the Lithuanians gained a double-digit advantage for a short time – 44:34, but the opponents responded with five points in a row. Still, before the decisive quarter, Lithuania managed to regain a double-digit advantage – 55:44.
In the last 10 minutes of the game, the Venezuelans organised several successful offences, but Domantas Sabonis kept the Lithuanians ahead – 61:50. In the end, the hosts, supported by their fans, stopped the opponents and sealed the win – 76:65.
LITHUANIA: J. Valančiūnas 20, D. Sabonis 12, Mantas Kalnietis 12, Rokas Giedraitis 10, Marius Grigonis 8, Rokas Jokubaitis 7.
VENEZUELA: David Cubillian 11, Michael Carrera 9, Heissler Guillent 8, Garly Sojo 7, Miguel Ruiz 6.
