The Lithuanians were pushed by the African side in a high-scoring, exciting affair at the Olympics.
Lithuania remained undefeated in the basketball competition with an 89-80 win over Nigeria in the second game of the Rio Olympics for both teams.
Mantas Kalnietis and Jonas Maciulis were joint top scorers with 21 points each while Ike Diogu paced the Nigerians with 19 points.
The African side came in off of a loss in their opener while the Lithuanians were victorious in their Olympic debut for 2016.
The game was much lower scoring than anticipated, Nigeria holding a surprising 16-13 lead after the first quarter.
Both teams offense improved in the second quarter as Nigeria won the quarter 25-23 to take a 41-36 lead into the break.
The Lithuanians came out of the halftime break with a different mindset and it showed, outscoring Nigeria 29-13 to take control of the game with a 65-54 lead after 30 minutes. The African side tried to rally, pulling to within 84-79 with 47 seconds to play, but ultimately it would fall short as the final quarter was played on pretty even terms, Lithuania hitting five free throws down the stretch to preserve their lead.
D’Tigers Olympics campaign may be nearing an end having lost their opening two games but the Nigerian’s are determined to go out on a high even if a victory against their next opponents, Spain, will be meaningless in securing a berth in the next round.
On Thursday night at the Carioca Arena, Ike Diogu will lead out his team and attempt to end the two-game losing streak against a Spanish side which has also been winless.
Josh Akognon, 30, who spoke on behalf to the team assures that he and his teammates will try to make fewer mistakes against the Europeans.
“They are going to be on their game as well, we are both zero-and-two, so we are both kind of fighting for our lives right now.
“We are going to come out with even more intensity against them and we are going to learn from our mistakes this time,” Akognon, who now plays pro basketball in Italy for Dinnamo Sassari, said.
The former NBA player fingered pressure as the reason for the loss against Lithuania on Tuesday night and insists the team will work against that when the face Spain.
“We came out in the second half and just kept pressing the point and when we lost that five-point lead we started scrambling, taking quick shots and it all went bad.”
Against Spain who have also been struggling at these games, Nigeria’s luck may turn, and with Croatia and Brazil still lurking as subsequent group opponents,who knows.
