NANJING, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- After being narrowly defeated by France earlier in the tournament, Lithuania vented their rage on the Dominican Republic and prevailed 74-55 to conclude their FIBA Basketball World Cup journey on Monday.
Jonas Valanciunas of Lithuania scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the process. His teammate Lukas Lekavicius also contributed 19 points, shooting 8 out of 8. Rigoberto Mendoza of Dominican Republic tallied 14 points.
Lithuania could not make it to the quarterfinals after they bitterly lost to France on Saturday when the final seconds the referees missed a weighty goaltending call.
"I want to thank everyone for supporting me," said Lithuania's head coach Datinius Adomaitis, who even slapped the desk in a fit of rage at the press conference after the game with France.
Lithuania played with anger and made a ruthless 13-4 start, led by center Valanciunas, who contributed 11 points and seven rebounds in the first half.
They continued to mount pressure by attacking the rim in the second quarter. The Dominican Republic were put on the back foot under the pressure, only answering with missed three-pointers and subsequently trailed 24-38 at halftime.
"We did not play great offensive game. We did not take advantage of the easy baskets," said Sadiel Rojas of Dominican Republic.
Lithuania shot zero points from the three-point line in the first half and they did not recover in the third quarter. But Lithuania's guard Lekavicius was in immense form, shooting 8 of 8 to help his team maintain a double-digit lead in the final minutes.
