Cologne, Germany (AP) — Lithuania protested its second overtime loss to Germany in Sunday’s EuroBasket tournament, claiming the referee did not award free throws following a regulation technical foul.
FIBA denied the protest.
So this is a win for Germany and a big win for the hosts. Franz Wagner scored 32 points, Dennis Schroeder added 25 and Germany won 109-107 in a tight game throughout, neither team leading by more than 9 points.
We are all 𝗙r𝗔𝗡𝗭😍
Franz Wagner sets Cologne on fire as 🇩🇪 Germany win 3-0 #eurobasket
🪣 32 points
✋ 8 revs
🍽️ 2nd
⛔ 2 blocks pic.twitter.com/lUXQHRah4c—FIBA (@FIBA) September 4, 2022
“We are not happy,” said Lithuanian coach Kazis Maksvitis.
The German was thrilled as he was certain to make it through the group stage and reach the knockout round of the tournament.
German coach Gordy Herbert was asked for a technical call after a personal foul was whistled against his team with 1:26 left in the third quarter, according to FIBA. Jonas Valanciunas was charged with a personal foul on Lithuania and he made two free throws, but no technical free throws were awarded.
Herbert said one of the referees told him there was a “situation” technically with seven seconds remaining in regulation and what should have happened.
“It was the first time I had heard of it,” said Herbert.
FIBA said the protest was “unacceptable as the reason for the protest was communicated outside the designated time of 60 minutes after the match”. However, FIBA added that even if the protest had been filed in a timely manner, it had been refused “because the reason presented is not one of the reasons for which the protest can be filed.”
A 3-pointer from the left of Arnas Butkevicius, Lithuania – a potential game winner – bounced off the rim as the clock ran out in the second extra time.
Maodo Lo scored 21 points for Germany (3-0) Daniel Theis Added 11.
Valanciunas had a game-high 34 points and 14 rebounds (0-3) for Lithuania, while Marius Grigonis scored 17 points. Domantas Sabonis Ignaz Brazdekis scored 12 and Mindaugas Kuzminskas scored 11.
Lithuania’s three losses were by 7, 4 and 2 points.
“It was a tough game,” said Valanciunas. “They played well. For the most part I thought we responded. …Congratulations.
Valanciunas scored the final four points of regulation as Lithuania recovered from 89–85 in the final 42 seconds. Schroeder missed a step-back jumper at the fourth buzzer and Wagner missed one at the end of the first overtime.
However, in the second OT, the German won the first five points and did not trail. Valanciunas was sent off with 2:29 left and Germany held on with Law’s 3-pointer 17 seconds later to lead 106-102.
“I think it definitely shows our character and our togetherness as a team to finish it all and come out on top,” said Law.
Group B
Bosnia and Herzegovina 97, Slovenia 93
Also in Cologne, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-1) surprised Luka Doncic, beating EuroBasket winners Slovenia (2-1) by 23 points from John Roberson and 22 points from Zanan Moussa.
Miralem Halilovic scored 13 points, Jusuf Nurkic and Edin Attic each scored 12 points.
See how W means to Bosnia 🇧🇦#eurobasket pic.twitter.com/Vkp7YO8bnT
—FIBA (@FIBA) September 4, 2022
Doncic had 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for Slovenia, but finished 8-0 from three-scoring position. Vlatko Kankar led Slovenia with 22 goals, Goran Dragic scored 20, Klemen Preperic scored his 12th and Mike Toby scored his 11th.
France 78, Hungary 74
Guerschon Yabusele scored 17 points and France (2-1) squandered most of their 15-point lead, but beat Hungary (1-2) behind.
Adam Hanga’s 3-pointer with 1:04 remaining put Hungary within 74-72. Hungary were stopped on France’s next possession and looked for an initial lead, but with 23 seconds remaining David Vojvoda’s attempt for his three points was flipped to the rim.
Rudy Gobert scored 15 points, Evan Fournier add 12, Vincent Poirier France had ten.
Hunga scored 18 goals for Hungary and Michael Hopkins scored 10.
Group A
Belgium 83, Spain 73
In Tbilisi, Georgia, Manu Lecomte surprised Spain with 20 goals as Belgium finished 12-0.
Pierre-Antoine Gilet scored 14 points for Belgium (2-1), Retin Obassohan with 11 and Ismael Baco with 10.
Willie Hernangomez Juancho Hernangómez and Lorenzo Brown each scored 11 goals, while Spain scored 18 (2-1).
Montenegro 91, Bulgaria 81
Vladimir Mihajlovic scored 23 points as Montenegro (2-1) finished the game with an 18-6 run to overtake Bulgaria (0-3).
Igor Drobnyak and Bojan Dubrjavic scored 17 points each for Montenegro, Nemanja Radovic scored 16 points and Kendrick Perry scored 12 points.
Aleksandar Vezenkov led all scorers with Bulgaria’s 26 and led 75-73 in the fourth before missing eight of his last 10 shots. Andrei Ivanov finished with 17 and Chavdar Kostov added 10 for Bulgaria and attempted 64 shots in the game, 40 of which were from 3-point range.
Georgia 88, Turkey 83, 2OT
The Group A hosts bounced back from an early 10-point deficit to give Turkey their first defeat (2-1), but there was more controversy after the game.
Turkey has one of its players Furkan Korkmaz – Argued in the dressing room area after the game. It was unclear who else was involved in the incident.
Turkey’s assistant coach Hakan Demir said his country’s federation wants to review the security footage. Turkey was also upset that he went over 22 seconds in the fourth quarter in an on-court altercation between Korkumaz and Georgia’s Duda Sanadze.
“We monitor the cameras,” Demir said. “Unfortunately, this kind of thing is a huge disappointment. We are here to play basketball. I lost. It doesn’t matter.”
Korkmaz and Sanadze were sent off.
Alexander Mamkerashvili had 20 points and 12 rebounds (1-2) for Georgia, Sadas McFadden had 17 points, Rati Andronikashvili and Giorgi Shermadini each had 15 points and Sanadze had 13.
Alperen Sengun led Turkey with 21 points on 10 of 14 shots. Sertac Sanli scored his 15, Cedi Osman Added 14 and Melik Mahmutoglu added 11. Shane Larkin finished with 9 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals.
Turkey’s loss saw Montenegro, Spain and Belgium join Group A at the top of the table for a tie for fourth place. The top four teams from each group will advance to the knockout stage.
