Shocking! Few expected such a one-sided match. The Serbs showed great strength and in the first quarterfinal of the World Cup they defeated Lithuania 87:68.

From heaven to hell. This is how the mood of Lithuanian basketball fans can be described. Just two days ago their team beat the Americans in sensational fashion (110:104), and now they are just as outclassed by the Serbs.

It was supposed to be a big match with the outcome decided in the final seconds. Meanwhile, Lithuania only kept pace with their rivals in the first quarter, which they won 25:24. The next two sets ended with a knockout for the Serbian basketball players.

The Balkan team already led 49:38 at the break and before the last ten minutes they had an advantage of 18 points (73:55). The fourth quarter proved to be a formality. Serbia, although without Nikola Jokić in the team, won 87:68 and secured a place in the semi-finals of the World Championships.

Bogdan Bogdanović was brilliant. The Atlanta Hawks player scored 21 points, hitting 9 of 13 shots from the field. Filip Petrusev added 17 points and collected six rebounds.

Serbia committed only eight defeats in the entire match. The Lithuanians, on the other hand, had twice as many, up to 15. They made only 28 attempts for two. Ignas Brazdeikis (11 points, 3/11 from the field) and Mindaugas Kuzminskas (six points, 0/5 from three) fared poorly.

In the next stage, the Serbs will face the winner of the Canada-Slovenia match. Additionally, if Canada and the United States win their matches, Serbia will already be certain to participate in next year’s Olympics.

Result:

Lithuania – Serbia 68:87 (25:24, 13:25, 17:24, 13:14)
(Sedekerskis 14, Jokubaitis 13, Valanciunas 11, Brazdeikis 11 – Bogdanović 21, Petrusev 17, Jović 11)

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