Jonas Valanciunas spearheads Lithuania to a gold medal in 2011 FIBA U-19 World Championship
Jonas Valanciunas spearheaded Lithuania, as they claimed the gold medal by routing Serbia 85-67 in the final of the 2011 FIBA U-19 World Championship. Valanciunas, who ended as the leading scorer of the tournament, was named the Most Valuable Player.
In the final, Valanciunas led all scorers with 36 points along with eight rebounds and three steals. He played for whole 40 minutes and shot 72.2 percent from the field and 77.8 percent from the free throw line. It was he and Vytenis Cizauskas, who keyed a third quarter rally that out did the Serbians. Edgaras Ulanovas made 12 points for Lithuania while Cizauskas finished the night with nine points.
Team Lithuania were a bit sluggish in the beginning but they gradually picked up the pace. Serbia’s star forward Djordje Drenovac was hard to negotiate in the initial minutes of the first quarter. However, once Lithuania’s top scorer Valanciunas gained the momentum with his first basket in the third minute of the game, there was no looking back for him.
Valanciunas along with Ulanovas tallied 13 of Lithuania’s 18 points during the quarter, as Lithuania led Serbia by 18-13 at the end of the first frame.
In the second quarter, the pendulum swung towards Serbia. Spurred on by Bojic Vojusevic, the Serbs slashed the deficit to just four points just three minutes before the end of first half and that forced the Lithuanian coach to take a time-out.
Right after the time-out, Drenovac hit a three-pointer for Serbia and made it a one point game. The shaken up Lithuanians eventually halted their surge and Vytenis Cizauskas finished the first half with a jumper that put Lithuania ahead of Serbia by 39-32.
The break slowed down the Lithuanians and it took them time to find their groove. The Serbians took advantage of the situation. Vojusevic was once again the fighter-in-chief for the Serbs. He lifted his side on the offence and tied the scores mid-way into the third quarter with a floater.
With the scores tied, the Lithuanians finally decided to step up their game. Valanciunas and Cizauskas responded and combined to set the court ablaze with an 18-3 blitz in the next five minutes to seal the momentum and in effect the game.
Lithuania led the Serbs 62-47, going into the final ten minutes of the game. Still, the Serbians refused to lay back and gave Lithuania a run for their money in the final quarter. However, in the end, the third period lapse proved too costly for Serbia as Lithuanians sailed to a 18 point win.
The Lithuanians were below par when it came to three-point shooting, but still they managed to dominate Serbia from the field with a 47.7 percent shooting as compared to 38.6.
Drenovac was the leading scorer for the Serbians with 14 points. His contributions also included four rebounds and one assist. Besides Drenovac, shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic chipped in with 13 points.
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