On fire - whenever Lithuania needed a score Justas Tamulis was there to deliver, finishing with 30 points on the night
By Jared Grellet
Lithuania will enter the Second Round of the Samsung U18 European Championship undefeated after beating Italy 81-71 in a top-of-the-table Group B clash on Saturday evening.
Exchanging the lead on 10 occasions, the two teams provided a clash worthy of their undefeated records.
But after giving up 17 points on the turnover, it was always going to be difficult for the Azzurrini to stick with their hosts down the stretch.
Lithuania made the most of it and pulled away in the last 15 minutes to wrap up the comfortable win.
Justas Timulis lived up to his billing as one of the players to watch at this tournament, knocking down 30 points on the back of five three-pointers.
Collectively, the entire Italian team could only land six shots from outside the perimeter.
Other performances to note from the Lithuanian team came from Marius Grigonis with 17 points and Denis Krestinin with 16. Only three other Lithuanian players scored points.
