The victorious Lithuanian march was interrupted in the final of the World Championship: the Serbs won a record title
The Lithuanian national team won medals for the first time in history after finishing the world men’s 3×3 championship in Antwerp (Belgium) on Sunday (Gintautas Matulis, Darius Tarvydas, Marijus Užupis, Ignas Vaitkus).
The Lithuanian national team has won 6 games in a row and only in the fight for gold on the way to the final celebration 4:21 p.m. lost to the most titled 3×3 basketball team of all time – Serbia. The Serbs became world champions for the 5th time in history.
Lithuanians did not score points for almost 2 minutes of the final and were 0: 5 behind. Then the prevalence of Serbs stopped growing, but time passed and Lithuanians did not approach the rivals (4: 9). D.Tarvydas’ long throw (10:13) to beat the Lithuanians closer to the rivals. Later, the Serbs exchanged exactly the team throws with the Lithuanians and scored the same 3 points (11:14). The Serbs then held a mini-sprint, scoring 3 points without a response (11:17).
Lithuanians were still close to 13:17, but Strahinja Stojačičius followed under the basket and hit a throw-in with a foul (13:19). The Lithuanians later approached it again by 4 points (16:20), but the judges recorded a foul for D.Tarvydas. For Lithuanians, this was the 7th violation of the rules, so the Serbs threw 2 fines. Marko Brankovic missed the first throw but made no mistake on the second attempt.
🎊🇷🇸SERBIA WINS FIFTH # 3x3WC CRELAN FIBA 3×3 IN THE WORLD CUP 2022🇷🇸🎊 @KSSrbije pic.twitter.com/HJZXtUYfNl
– FIBA3x3 (@ FIBA3x3) 2022 June 26
Lithuania: D.Tarvydas 7 points, I.Vaitkus 5, G.Matulis 2, M.Užupis 2.
Serbia: S.Stojačičius 9, M.Vasičius 5, D.Majstorovičius 4, M.Brankovičius 3 (5 rebounds).
Serbs from close and medium range hit as many as 11 out of 12 shots (Lithuanians – 12 out of 15). The Serbs threw away from a distance (4 out of 10 against 2 out of 6) and also imposed 2 out of 3 fines, while the Lithuanians did not. Lithuanians rebounded just 4 balls and Serbs rebounded 10.
Lithuanians started the championship in group B, where 21:15 defeated by the Mongols, 9:19 p.m. – Germans 22:15 Chileans, and 22: 3 – Taiwanese. Lithuanians with 4 victories became the winners of the group out of the same number and went straight to the quarterfinals. Lithuanians appear in it simply flawlessly – even 21:11 crushed by the U.S. national team, which defended the title of world champion here. In the semi-finals, the Lithuanians survived the whole basketball thriller, when after the overtime 18:17 beat the French, who were in one free throw from victory.
The Serbs did not stumble on their way to the finals either. They are in group A. 22:15 defeated France, 9:19 p.m. – New Zealand, 9:19 p.m. – Puerto Rico and 22: 7 – Brazil. Serbs in the quarterfinals 22:17 eliminated Latvians in the semifinals 5:12 p.m. pranoko belgus.
Lithuanians have not won medals at the world championship before, and Serbia is the most titled national team of all time. 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Serbs became world champions in 2014. – vice-champions. The worst in the history of the Serbs in 219, when it took 4th place. Serbs are also prominent leaders in the FIBA world 3×3 men’s ranking. Lithuanians are second in that ranking.
Bronze was won in Antwerp by the French national team, 18:17 after beating Belgium. The French have been waiting for medals since 2017, and the Belgians have played in the planetary championship for the first time.
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