China suffers night of shame at basketball cup
By Zhao Rui (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-07-30 07:26

Earlier Friday, Lithuania continued their sizzling form as they rolled to an 83-77 win over title favorites Argentina.

Lithuania, the 2003 European Cup champions, have clinched three consecutive victories at the event following an 82-73 rout of Angola and a nervy 68-66 win over China, and now top the team standings with two matches left.

"This was a hard-earned victory as we prepared a lot for the match," said Valdemaras Chomicius, head coach of Lithuania. "We started to think about Argentina on the first day of the event, we watched videos of their games and held meetings for specific tactical arrangements."

With Olympic gold medallists Argentina having only two players who participated in the Athens Olympics last year, Lithuania launched a superb performance in the opening quarter as they led 23-6 in the first quarter before ending the half up 45-37.

After three ties during the fourth quarter, Lithuania made a 13-2 surge and led by seven points before condemning Argentina to their first loss at the event.

The later game between Angola and Australia was stopped in the third quarter as the agreement of both sides due to the complaint that the court floor was too slippery. Angola won the match 62-49.