Lithuania, the winners of Group D with a 4-1 record, took a big early lead against New Zealand and then hung on for dear life, advancing to the quarterfinals of the FIBA World Cup Sunday with a 76-71 win in Barcelona.
Lithuania (5-1) led 23-9 at the end of the first quarter before New Zealand (2-4) settled in and began to chip away at the deficit.
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By halftime, the Lithuanian lead was 36-26 and New Zealand still trailed 58-50 entering the final period.
But Lithuania went cold to open the fourth quarter and the Kiwis scored the first nine points of the period to take a 59-58 lead on Corey Webster’s 3-ball with 7:12 remaining.
At the 6:00 mark, Jonas Valanciunas of the Toronto Raptors hit a pair of free throws to put Lithuania back up 60-59 and on their next possession, Jonas Maciulis made the first of two free throws to make it a 61-59 game.
Webster then drew a foul from Maciulis at the other end and made a pair of free throws to tie the game.
Maciulis missed on a drive, but Valanciunas grabbed the offensive board and was fouled by Isaac Fotu, who plays at the University of Hawaii. Valanciunis hit both free throws to give Lithuania the lead once more.
Valanciunas converted another offensive board with 3:52 left to extend the lead to four, but the Kiwis clawed back once again, getting jumpers on back-to-back possessions from Thomas Abercrombie and Mika Vukona to tie the score at 65-65 with 2:42 left.
Valanciunus answered with a jumper, starting a run of eight straight points for Lithuania that put the game out of reach. Donatas Motiejunas of the Houston Rockets made a pair of free throws, Maciulis knocked down a 3-pointer and Martynas Pocius hit the second of two free throws with 1:01 remaining that put Lithuania up 73-65.
Still the New Zealanders wouldn’t go away.
Vukona hit two free throws and Webster canned a jumper to make it a four-point game with 29 seconds left. Maciulis could only convert one of two from the line with 25 seconds to go and Webster made a layup to make it a one-possession game, 74-71, with 17 seconds on the clock.
But Pocius finally sealed the deal, hitting two free throws with 11 seconds left and the Kiwis’ last chance went away when Kirk Penney lost the ball out of bounds with three seconds to go.
Valanciunas had a big game for Lithuania, finishing with 22 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots. Pocius added 11 points and Darjus Lavrinovic scored 10 points.
Webster had a game-high 26 points for New Zealand. Fotu added 11 points and Vukona went for 10 rebounds with three steals and scored nine points.
Lithuania advances to face Turkey in a quarterfinal on Tuesday.