Greece cruises past Lithuania to book FIBA EuroBasket semifinal ticket

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The world stage domination continues for Greece.

After picking apart Israel and dethroning Spain, the Greeks maintained their momentum and surged ahead of Lithuania, 87-76, to punch a semifinal spot in the ongoing FIBA EuroBasket tournament on Sept. 10, 2025, in Riga, Latvia.

Greece leaned on the ever-reliable basketball philosophy: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

With another matchup on the line, Greece banked on their superstar’s brilliance, NBA champion Giannis Antetokounmpo, who just bulldozed his way for 29 points against the Lithuanian frontline.

It was also the two-way force who propelled Greece in their last two victories, manhandling every double team at the post for efficient deuces underneath the basket.

Lithuania also had no answers to Antetokounmpo’s fast break attack as he rammed their interior wall defense with crafty side steps and on-point usage of his signature spin move to evade the crowded traffic.

The match kicked off with both teams answering each other’s made baskets, with Lithuania receiving a huge lift from NBA veteran Jonas Valanciunas who did his damage in the right block.

However, the turning point of the quarterfinal clash came midway through the third quarter, when the Lithuanians underwent an unfortunate cold-shooting spree which the Greeks took advantage.

All hell broke loose at the start of the fourth frame, when the Greeks ballooned their largest lead of the ball game to 16 points.

Lithuania managed to hang around and trim their deficit to nine points, but a demoralizing personal scoring avalanche from the “Greek Freak” helped seal the semifinal qualification.

Aside from Antetokounmpo’s outstanding performance, Vasileios Toliopoulos also stepped up for Greece, dropping 17 markers off three triples while Kostas Sloukas added 11 points and four assists.

On the other hand, Valanciunas couldn’t single-handedly carry Lithuania, as his double-double stat line of 24 points and 15 rebounds got spoiled.

With the win, the Greeks just halted a long FIBA EuroBasket slump and returned to the semifinal stage after 16 years.

“It’s a great step. We are two steps away from our goal,” said Greece’s Dino Mitoglou.

“And we’re very happy about it. We have to keep our heads down because we still have two more games.”