Lithuania stomp minnows Nigeria to earn their first win of the tournament – Olympics Men Basketball Recap
The Lithuanian men basketball team cruised to a comfortable 73-52 victory over Nigeria to score their first victory of the 2012 London Olympics.
Lithuania had earlier lost their first game against Argentina on Sunday, and the win renews their chances of qualifying into the next round of the competition. The Lithuanians dominated the game throughout and outscored Nigeria
in each of the four periods.
Darius Songaila scored 12 points and 4 rebounds to lead the Lithuanian charge. Linas Kleiza offered good assistance by scoring 11 points and 6 rebounds.
Ike Diogu and Al Farouq Aminu both added 12 points each for Nigeria, and also combined for a total of 21 rebounds.
Both teams looked a bit rusty as they started the first quarter, and a total of only 22 points were scored in the period.
Nigeria managed 8 of those as they missed 17 field goal attempts. Lithuania themselves got off to a slow start, but were able to grab an early 14-8 lead at the end of the period.
The European side woke up in the second quarter though, and gained momentum to compile a 15-3 run that saw them extend their lead to 29-11. Nigeria however replied with an 8-0 spurt of their own to reduce the deficit to 29-19,
and kept on mounting offensive pressure. At the end of the first half, Lithuania held on to a 34-27 lead.
A three pointer by Simas Jasaitis followed by two free throws by Kleiza put Lithuania ahead at 43-30 as they started to pull away early in the third. Antanas Kavaliauskas scored on two free throw attemps, followed by a two point
shot and Paulius Jankunas then hit a tempo altering three - pointer to put Lithuania up 52-34. That burst pretty much sealed the fate of the game.
Nigeria trailed 40-56 going into the final quarter and faced an uphill task in order to come out victorious.
The Lithuanians continued the onslaught and got the shots they wanted to maintain a comfortable lead throughout the final quarter.
Alade Aminu scored 10 points and 6 rebounds for Nigeria while Rimantas Kaukenas added 10 points for the Lithuanian side.
Nigeria shot a dismal 24.2% from the field and failed to gain any momentum throughout the game. Lithuania, on the other hand, shot 46.3% from the field. Both teams struggled from the distance, with Nigeria going 1 of 16 and Lithuania
shooting 3 of 13 from the same distance. Nigeria mustered only 3 assists for the entire duration of the game, testament to their poor play making skills on the night. Both teams now have 1 win and 1 loss after two games in the competition.
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