Lithuania dismantles Slovenia, sets up battle for 5th vs Latvia

Lithuania pulled away late to keep Slovenia winless in the final phase with a 100-84 victory in their classification match on Thursday at the 2023 FIBA World Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Lithuania will now slug it out in the battle for fifth place against Latvia, which earlier defeated Italy.

Slovenia, meanwhile, will look to end its campaign on a high note against Italy on Saturday for the 7th place clash.

Jonas Valanciunas starred once again with a double-double of 24 points and 12 rebounds laced with one steal and one block while Ignas Brazdeikis chipped in 15 markers and four assists.

Momentum was all on the side of Lithuania heading to the second half before back-to-back triples from Aleksej Nikolic and Mike Tobey cut Slovenia's deficit to just four, 55-51.

But Lithuania was quick to respond, unleashing a 13-6 run for a 68-57 cushion before ending the third up by 12, 75-63, with Valanciunas and Mindaugus Kuzminskas leading the way.

That lead went up to 21 in the fourth when Deividas Sirvydis buried a triple, 81-65, as star guard Luka Doncic struggled to connect in the second half.

Doncic and Slovenia tried to mount a last-gasp rally with the Dallas Mavericks standout firing a long bomb but with only 34 seconds left, they ran out of steam as Lithuania cruised to the win.

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA Integrated News