Behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greece reached the EuroBasket semifinals for the first time in 16 years, downing Lithuania, 87-76, in Riga, Latvia on Tuesday, FIBA reports.
The Bucks superstar poured in 29 points to carry his team into a semifinal matchup with Turkey. Greece stalled in the quarterfinals during four of the last five EuroBasket tourneys, but broke though with a strong second-half effort.
Greece led 44-38 at the halftime break. Lithuania scored the first three points of the second half before Greece increased the cushion back to 51-41. It was 58-43 midway through the third quarter. Lithuania never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Giannis converted 9 of 15 shots and 11 of 16 free throws while scoring 29 points. He also added six rebounds, two assists, four steals and a block. Vasileios Toliopoulos hit 3 three-pointers while scoring 17 points and Kostas Sloukas added 11 points and four assists.
Greece moved to within just two wins from their third EuroBasket crown (1987, 2005).
“My players did a great job playing with a big heart in front of so many thousands of people from Lithuania in a very nice atmosphere,” head coach Vasileios Spanoulis said.
Nuggets big man Jonas Valanciunas led Lithuania with 24 points and 15 rebounds.
“Tonight was a battle. Both teams battled until the end. They were stronger,” he said. “They were better than us. I was just happy we fought until the end, no matter what. It was a good fight.”