Eurobasket 2007: Lithuania Lietuva - Croatia Hrvatska 74:72

Lithuania Slip Past Croatia, Into Semis By David Hein 14 September 2007 Zoran Planinic missed two foul shots with 1.02 seconds remaining, allowing Lithuania to hold off a motivated Croatia 74-72 and book their spot in Saturday\'s semi-finals against Russia. Darius Songalia scored 20 points, grabbed seven rebounds and gave Lithuania the winning basket with 46 seconds left. Linas Kleiza collected 19 points and nine rebounds and Sarunas Jasikevicius dished out Zoran Planinic (Croatia) Zoran Planinic led Croatia with 16 points but missed critical free throws down the stretch. eight assists as Lithuania remained the only perfect team in the competition. \"It should have been an easier game, but it was very difficult for us psychologically. Croatia are a very good team, but every team in the quarter-finals is good,\" said Ramunas Siskauskas, who was held to just two points. \"We were a bit nervous at the beginning, but not in the final seconds and that\'s what helped us to the win.\" Lithuania are hoping to repeat their 2003 run to the EuroBasket title - which they won with a perfect 6-0 run. The Baltic powers are going for European crown number four. Croatia limped into the quarter-finals having lost their last three games after beating Spain, but Jasmin Repesa\'s men gave Lithuania all they could handle, especially Planinic, who collected a team-high 16 points as well as three rebounds, five assists and seven steals. The Tau Vitoria guard however missed when it meant most. After Marko Popovic was off target on a three-pointer with three seconds left, Planinic was fouled with 1.02 ticks remaining. He missed the first and then purposely missed the second and Lithuania ran off the clock for the win. Popovic finished with 12 points and Marko Tomas added 10. Croatia, who will play France in the 5th-8th classification games, shot themselves in the foot, making just eight of 19 foul shots (42%) while holding Lithuania to 40% shooting (23-of-58) for the game. \"We were able to get a last-second shot but unfortunately, it didn\'t go in,\" said Tomas. Eurobasket 2007 Lithuania Lietuva Spain Espana Baketball Croatia Russia Hrvatska France Serbia Slovenia Rusija Sarunas donje csi drnis butautas toni kukoc vinovo graikija slovenija siskauskas krepsinis zalgiris marko tomas

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