Great Britain Falls to Unbeaten Lithuania, Still Able to Advance

Coming into this game, I knew it could either be a near victory for the English, or a stout victory for Lithuania. Great Britain didn’t lose to Lithuania as bad as the 31 point deficit Latvia suffered, so an eight point loss isn’t terrible with a final score of 81-73.

Looking down the stat sheet the two squads had practically the same type of outing within most of the major figures as far as percentages go. The one column that is probably the deciding factor of this ball game is free throws. Great Britain just attempted eight free throws and completed six; 75% isn’t too bad, right? Well the percentages don’t matter when you allow the opposing squad to attempt 25 free throws, and they see 17 fall through the net. So to say the least, free throws definitely have the power to decide games.

Our Hilltopper did see more minutes this outing than he did yesterday, and his production stepped up – especially on the defensive end. Ben Lawson saw eight points added to his name to eight rebounds, three assists, and a not too shabby four blocked shots. Fun fact, Lawson currently ranks first among his competitors in the tourney, averaging 2.8 blocks per outing.

The English will take on Slovenia on Monday, and both squads currently sit at .500 in the tournament, so it will be fun to see which team will gain the upper hand and restore the winning record. Slovenia has defeated Spain and Sweden while falling to Serbia and Germany.