HUESCA (Spain) - Spain showed they still have Lithuania's number with a 69-61 victory in an intrigue-filled showdown on day two of a friendly tournament ahead of the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024 which also saw France brush aside Germany 98-50.
Spain and Lithuania both won their first games of the event in Huesca in northern Spain - Spain over Germany and Lithuania against France. But the Spain v Lithuania matchup was especially telling because the Iberians beat the Baltic side 80-63 in the Semi-Finals of the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023. On top of that, the two Europeans will face off again on July 2 at the FIBA U17 World Cup in Türkiye to likely decide which team wins Group A.
Spain jumped ahead right away with a 17-7 lead and the cushion was 26-10 after 10 minutes and 28-10 early in the second quarter. The home side still led by 18 points at the break - 43-25.
Lithuania fought back into the game and trimmed the deficit to 47-40 and were down 55-47 after 30 minutes. But Spain scored the first three points of the final frame and never allowed Lithuania closer than nine points the rest of the way.
Sergi Kemu was Spain's top scorer with 14 points and Maximo Garcia-Plata added 13 points in the win. Dovydas Buika paced Lithuania with 17 points and Arturas Butajevas tallied 14 points and 7 rebounds.
France for their part bounced back from their 82-74 loss to Lithuania on day one of the friendly tournament and rolled past Germany 98-50.
Akram Naji scored 14 points with 4 assists, Hugo Yimga had 13 points and 9 rebounds and Noa Kouakou-Heugue chipped in 12 points for the winners. Fabian Kayser and Kenan Reinhart both had 8 points to lead Germany, who made 7-of-7 free throws compared to 28-of-41 for France and committed 27 turnovers.
Germany were close for the first quarter, trailing just 20-17 after 10 minutes. But the French started pulling away in the second quarter with a 17-0 run to open a 53-24 lead. And Lamine Kebe's team were up 55-26 at the break. Germany did not offer any resistance the rest of the way and never challenged.
The teams will be in action again on Saturday with Germany facing Lithuania and France taking on Spain.
France vs Spain on Saturday will feel like a final
The games are being broadcast on the Spanish federation's Twitch channel.
FIBA