Lithuanian U19 national team started the U19 World Cup in Latvia with a loss. Gediminas Petrauskas’ team lost the first game of the tournament to Canada – 71:80 (16:17, 26:15, 13:19, 16:29). Even monster stat line by Ąžuolas Tubelis was not enough to secure the win.
Ąžuolas Tubelis scored 32 points (12/16 2pt, 2/2 3pt, 2/3ft), added 12 rebounds and got a total of 42eff, however, he did not receive much help for the teammates. Mantas Rubštavičius scored 15 points, while Augustas Marčiulionis added only 5 points (1/7 2pts, 0/1 3pt, 3/4ft), made 9 assists, but had 6 turnovers.
Halfway through the second half, the Canadians led by two points, but Lithuania went on a 18:6 run and after first half had a double-digit lead – 42:32. In the third quarter, the lead was increased to 14 points, but at the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth, they did not score a single point for five minutes, lost the 0:13 run and Canada evened the score – 55:55.
What is your take on 🇱🇹 U19 national team? 🤔#mesuzlietuva #ltubasketball #FIBAU19 pic.twitter.com/4VLZMax3EQ
— LTU Basketball (@ltu_basketball) July 3, 2021
Ryan Nembhard scored 6 points in a row and gave Canadians the lead – with less than two minutes left to play, Lithuania was down – 66:72. On Sunday, Lithuanians will play against Senegal. A total of 16 teams are participating in the championship – absolutely all of them will advance to the round of 16th and play there with the teams form other groups.
Azuolas Tubelis doesn’t give up on the play and gets the crazy chasedown block for @ltu_basketball at the #FIBAU19 Basketball World Cup! 🇱🇹
— FIBA (@FIBA) July 3, 2021
📺 Watch live: https://t.co/QKV1arxjt1 pic.twitter.com/IHe9bFvMI2