Skip to content

VIDEO: Valanciunas leads Lithuania to OT victory over Italy in EuroBasket quarters

REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Not much has changed since EuroBasket 2013, as three of the four teams to reach the semifinals of the biannual tournament that year have done so again at EuroBasket 2015.

Lithuania punched their ticket to a showdown with Serbia by defeating Italy 95-85 in overtime Wednesday, led in large part by Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas. Valanciunas scored a game-high 26 points on 11-of-13 shooting and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds, bumping his tournament averages to 17.2 and 9.2, respectively, while shooting 58.3 percent from the floor.

The Lithuanians needed every bit of Valanciunas' interior dominance to fend off an Italian side with three NBA players having strong tournaments.

Andrea Bargnani played through a minor calf injury, a positive sign for the Brooklyn Nets considering he struggled with a calf injury last season, and he led the Italians with 21 points. It took him 22 shots to get there, though, with the 7-footer going ice-cold from long range with a 1-of-7 mark. He should have stuck to dunks like these:

The victim of Bargnani's workload, to a degree, was Danilo Gallinari, one of the best players in the tournament so far. He scored 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting and added six rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two points on a clutch drive late in regulation to help force overtime.

The Denver Nuggets look prophetic for the now-seemingly team-friendly extension they signed Gallinari to this summer, as the 26-year-old has averaged 18.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in the tournament while shooting 55.6 percent.

Sacramento Kings guard Marco Belinelli also kicked in 18 points for Italy, which will now attempt to earn a berth in the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament on the loser's side of the quarterfinal bracket.

Lithuania will take on Serbia on Friday.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox