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RIGA (Latvia) – Greece used their tried and true formula of riding Giannis Antetokounmpo and it worked yet again in fighting past Lithuania 87-76 in the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Quarter-Finals to reach their first Semi-Finals since 2009.
Antetokounmpo poured in 29 points and Greece managed to withstand the boisterous 10,487 fans at Arena Riga – a large majority of whom were Lietuva supporters.
After failing to advance past the Quarter-Finals in four of the last five EuroBaskets, Greece finally broke through and will face Türkiye for a spot in the Final.
Turning Point
Greece drained a trio of three-pointers in an 11-2 run early in the second quarter to open a 35-24 advantage. Lithuania answered with an 11-2 surge of their to pull within 39-38 and were down 44-38 at the break.
Lithuania trimmed the gap to three points at 44-41 before Greece increased the cushion back to 51-41 and it was 58-43 midway through the third frame. Lithuania temporarily made it a nine-point game but the lead grew to 16 points early in the fourth quarter and that was the game – though Lithuania were down eight points with 61 seconds to play.
Read about the Greek connection between their 2005 title and this team
20 years on: Greece’s title quest inspired by 2005 heroes
TCL Player of the Game
Giannis Antetokounmpo has been Greece’s leader thus far and things did not change against Lithuania. The NBA superstar converted 9 of 15 shots and 11 of 16 free throws in scoring 29 points and also picked up 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals and 1 block.
Vasileios Toliopoulos hit 3 three-pointers for 17 points, Kostas Sloukas added 11 points and 4 assists and Kostas Antetokounmpo contributed 4 points and 4 blocks.
Lithuania could not take advantage of an outstanding performance by Jonas Valanciunas with 24 points and 15 rebounds while Arnas Velicka had 12 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists.
Stats Don’t Lie
Greece were able to score easy baskets with 20 fast break points to just 4 for Lithuania. The Greeks also shot 63 percent on two-pointers.
Bottom Line
Greece moved to within just two wins from their third EuroBasket crown following 1987 and 2005. Next up for the Greeks in the Semi-Finals will be Türkiye, who knocked off Poland in their Quarter-Finals.
Vasilieos Spanoulis’ team is also just one victory from their first EuroBasket podium since third place in 2009, while Lithuania leave Riga wondering what could have been though they reached their first Quarter-Finals since 2015.
They Said
“My players did a great job playing with a big heart in front of so many thousands of people from Lithuania in a very nice atmosphere .” – Vasileios Spanoulis, Greece
“My first appearance with the national team was in the preparations for 2009. I spent all those years in the drought. So it’s an amazing feeling in one way. But on the other hand we haven’t accomplished anything. We just gave another shot to ourselves for the dream.” – Kostas Papanikoloau, Greece
“It’s a great step. We are two steps away from our goal. And we’re very happy about it. We have to keep our heads down because we still have two more games.” – Dinos Mitoglou, Greece
“Tonight was a battle. Both teams battled until the end. They were stronger. They were better than us. I was just happy we fought until the end, no matter what. It was a good fight.” – Jonas Valanciunas, Lithuania
For more quotes, tune in to the official post-game press conference!
FIBA