Lithuania and Russia win: FIBA U-19 World Championship Roundup July 8, 2011(Part 2)
Game-3: Lithuania 87 – Poland 75
Jonas Valanciunas had a monstrous night, as Lithuania beat Poland 87-75 on Friday in FIBA Under-19 World Championship.
Lithuania dominated the opposition from the charity stripe, as they shot 87 percent in comparison to Poland’s 52.9 percent. Valanciunas led Lithuania with 26 points and 24 rebounds, highest by anyone in the game along with three
assists and one steal. Team-mate Vytenis Cizauskas chipped in with 13 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals for the Lithuania.
Both Poland and Lithuania seemed charged right from the tip off. After a tight few minutes, the Lithuanian squad made the break through with 9-2 burst and led Poland by 22-15, when the first quarter ended.
The charged up Lithuanians scorched the Polish with a 20-0 blitz early in the second and extended their lead to 35-15. Despite of some resistance from the Polish squad, the Lithuanians managed to secure the first half in their
favour with a 57-41 advantage.
Poland lifted themselves up after the break and came hard on the Lithuanians in the third quarter. The Polish squad did not just limit the Lithuanians on the offense, but also drilled into their defence. Their surge reduced the
deficit to just seven points (64-57), when the quarter closed.
However, just when they required to step up their game, the Polish went cold and Lithuania thumped 12 points that went unanswered. The burst pushed the lead to 76-60. Then in the last two and half minutes, Lithuania used an 8-4
run and grasped the victory.
Michal Michalak led Poland with game-high 29 points, 13 rebounds and two assists.
Game-4: Russia 79 – USA 74
Dmitry Kulagin guided the way, as Russia used a dominating first half to overpower USA 79-74 on Friday
in FIBA U-19 World Championship. Both teams displayed good performance overall, but Russians were more aggressive from the field that proved to be the difference in the end.
Kulagin marshalled Russia with his game winning double-double, which included 21 points and 12 rebounds. Dmitry was stunning from the three-point range during his 39 minutes stay, shooting at 83.3 percent. Vladislav Trushkin scored
19 points, clutched three rebounds and catered for two assists for Russia.
The Russians were the better team early on as they raced to a 25-18 run after the first 10 minutes. However, in the second quarter United State put up a better effort. They curtailed the Russians on the offense, but failed to through
their defence. The Russians took advantage and by the time the teams went into the locker room, Russia led USA by 40-30.
USA limited Russia to just 12 points during the third quarter. Their offensive unit on the other hand, punctuated 23 points to snatch a 53-52 lead, going into the final quarter.
After the third quarter setback, the Russians stepped up the ante and managed to outscore the Americans 27-21 to seal the win. Jeremy Lamb scored 21 points and grabbed five rebounds and led all the USA scorers. Team-mate Joe Jackson
added 14 points for his team.
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