EUROBASKET 2011

Turning Point: Serbia trailed 86-79 with less than six minutes to go when Lithuania scored five unanswered points as part of a 9-2 run en route to victory.

Game Hero: Lithuania's bench. The tournament hosts got 47 points from their bench compared to Serbia's 19.

Stats Don't Lie: Lithuania were seven of 10 (70%) from three-point range at half-time and finished 11 of 20 (55%). Serbia were seven of 18 (39%) from behind the arc. Lithuania out-rebounded Serbia 34-29.

Lithuania sent out a very loud message about their EuroBasket title aspirations on Wednesday night by turning on the style and whipping Serbia in Vilnius.

Playing fast and with plenty of passion, Kestutis Kemzura's men won 100-90.

Both old and young played their parts for the Baltic nation, with 35-year-old Sarunas Jasikevicius offering leadership, assists and points and 19-year-old sensation Jonas Valanciunas scoring, rebounding and blocking shots.

The truth is that every player who ran onto the floor for Lithuania seemed to play at 100mph and made life very difficult for Serbia on both ends of the floor.

Starting playmaker Mantas Kalnietis led the way with 19 points while Valanciunas weighed in with 18 and EuroBasket 2003 MVP Jasikevicius 14.

The offensive attack was so potent for Lithuania, who hit 11 of 20 shots from long range and 38 of 63 overall, that everyone got in on the act.

Martynas Pocius hit shots from the arc and dunked, and Paulius Jankunas did as well with both players contributing 13 points.

"I think the game was hard," said Valanciunas, the MVP of this summer's U19 World Championship that was played in Riga, Latvia.

"We played hard for all four quarters. I thank the fans because they put on a great atmosphere.

"It felt as though we were playing with six players.

"We shot very well from three-point range, especially in the first half."

Lithuania had made seven of 10 shots from behind the arc by half-time.

Serbia, beaten in overtime by France last time out, nearly unraveled with Milos Teodosic called for a technical after offering comments from the bench in the third quarter.

They twice led by five in the first quarter but fell behind for good when Valanciunas grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on the put-back for a 23-22 lead.

The next time down the floor, Jasikevicius hit a three-pointer to stretch the advantage to four.

When Kalnietis hit a jumper midway through the second quarter, the lead was 43-34 and the fans inside the Siemens Arena were louder than they had been all night.

Serbia closed the gap to six but baskets by veterans Darius Songaila and Rimantas Kaukenas took the lead to 54-44 at half-time.

Midway through the third quarter, Serbia continued to fight and Dusko Savanovic, who failed to score in the first half, heated up.

His three-point play reduced the arrears to 63-56 but after two Jasikevicius free-throws, Teodosic, who was on the bench, said something to a referee as he ran past and a bench technical was called.

That allowed Jasikevicius to go back to the line and make two more free-throws for a 67-56 lead.

Serbia managed to again get to within seven points in the third quarter but went to the fourth down 78-68 after Kalnietis hit a three-pointer.

The lead ballooned to 14 points in the fourth quarter and Lithuania played hard until the end.

"I am very, very happy with this win," said Lithuania coach Kestutis Kemzura.

"We beat a great team that is well coached.

"We played good basketball. The key was that we had full focus. We spoke about this before the game and we learned a lesson from the game against Spain."

Serbia captain Nenad Krstic had 21 points and Teodosic and Savanovic ended up with 16 apiece.

"They deserved this victory," Serbia's Milenko Tepic said.

"We didn't find a way to defend their pick-and-roll.

"Their two point guards had 14 assists.

"We were not aggressive on the ball. They shot very well.

"On this level, it's very hard to win a game when you receive 100 points."

Serbia coach Dusan Ivkovic will try to take this loss and make his team better.

"It was a bad day for my team," he said.

"We didn't have enough reaction and we didn't fight enough.

"We have to learn from this game and make a serious analysis."