Stockholm, SWEDEN, September 10 (www.eurobasket2003.com) - Lithuanian point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius played a marvelous game, scoring 21 points and dishing out 11 assists.
Lithuania played a dominant first half of their quarterfinal against regining european and world champions Serbia & Montenegro and led 57-43 at halftime, behind 18 points by Jasikevicius and 16 points by Ramunas Siskauskas. They also seemed in control of the game through much of the third quarter until Serbia & Montenegro went on a 17-0 run, sparked by 8 points from guard Milos Vujanic, that stretched from the last minutes in the third quarter and almost 5 minutes into the fourth quarter.
Serbia & Montenegro got as close as 4 point with the score at 80-76 but Lithuanian shooting guard Arvydas Macijauskas hit a very important 3-pointer to stop the run with 5.15 left in the fourth. Lithuania also went on to score the next 4 points on a Songaila layup and a Stombergas jumper to push their lead back up to 11, 87-76. After those baskets Lithuania was able to ride out the storm won the game by a margin of 16 points, 98-82.
Serbia & Montenegro played the game without Sacramento Kings superstar Peja Stojakovic, who was forced to watch the game in street clothes, still feeling the effects from the sprained ankle he suffered against Turkey in the quarterfinal. Serbia & Montenegro could have used Stojakovic in this game as they came out sluggish and was outplayed by Lithuania in the first half.
The stars for Lithuania was their guard duo Jasikevicius, 21 points plus 11 assists, and Macjiauskas, 20 points plus 7 rebounds. Ramunas Siskauskas scored a game high 27 points on 9 for 14 shooting. Siskauskas had the chance for two 4-point plays in the same game but converted the free throw on only one of them. The trio combined to score 68 of Lithuania's 98 points in the game. Lithuania also recived 14 points from forward Darius Songaila.
Sarunas Jasikevicius dominated the game, especially in the first half. He scored 18 of his points in the first half and kept feeding his teammates with no look passes and set them up for numerous open layups throughout the game. In the second half he did not score until he hit a 3-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer with 1.51 left in the game to put it out of reach for good.
For Serbia & Montenegro the surprising top scorer was Djuro Ostojic with 17 points. Ostojic averaged only 4,8 points in the previous 4 games. Point guard Marko Jaric scored 14 points and got 7 rebounds but he also committed an outrageous 9 turnovers. Center Predrag Drobnjak scored 13 points to go with 9 rebounds but shot only 2 for 10 from the floor.
Lithuania will now face France, who won against Russia earlier in the evening, in one of the semifinals on Saturday.
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