Maric Held in Check in Australia's Semifinal Loss

 Cordoba, Argentina--- Aleks Maric was held to six points and nine rebounds, as Australia fell to Lithuania, 96-73, in the semifinals of the FIBA U21 World Championships Saturday evening.                                                        

Maric, who scored a game-high 21 points in the quarterfinal victory over Slovenia, was plagued by foul trouble, hitting 3-of-5 shots in 22 minutes of work before fouling out. Despite the foul trouble, Maric still grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, as the Crocs suffered their first loss of the tournament.

 

Australia will have an opportunity to rebound on Sunday, as they will take on Canada, a 74-61 loser to Greece. The two teams met in the preliminary round on Aug. 6, an 88-71 Australian victory.

 

Lithuania took command of the game early, taking a 26-11 victory at the end of the first period. The Crocs pulled to within 41-34 at halftime, but were outscored 56-39 in the second half en route to dipping to 6-1 in tournament action.

 

Australia vs Lithuania U21 Schedule / Results OFFICIAL BASKETBALL BOX SCORE -- G A M E T O T A L S Australia vs Lithuania 8/13/05 6:45 p.m. at Mar del Plata, Argentina -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Australia (6-1) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS No. N A M E FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 04 Jawai, Nathan 3-4 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 3 6 0 1 0 0 11 05 Gibson, Adam 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 3 1 1 2 0 1 9 06 Hill, Brad 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 3 0 1 0 1 0 12 07 Markovic, Steven 6-15 2-7 0-0 2 2 4 4 14 1 6 0 0 30 08 Janev, Blagoj 2-4 0-1 2-4 2 1 3 0 6 0 1 0 0 20 09 Bruce, Aaron 2-11 0-2 0-0 0 3 3 1 4 3 2 0 1 27 10 Allen, Ben 2-3 1-2 0-0 2 4 6 4 5 0 2 1 0 18 11 Maric, Aleksandar 3-5 0-0 0-2 3 6 9 5 6 1 1 0 1 22 12 Harris, Sam 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 13 Newley, Brad 4-14 1-2 2-4 2 1 3 2 11 3 1 0 2 31 15 Carter, Rhys 7-15 5-9 0-0 3 1 4 0 19 0 2 0 1 17 TEAM ........................................ 0 0 0 TOTALS 29-74 9-24 6-14 17 21 38 25 73 10 18 2 6 200 TOT-FG 1stH: 0-0 00.0% 2ndH: 29-74 39.2% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 39.2% Deadbl 3pt-FG 1stH: 0-0 00.0% 2ndH: 9-24 37.5% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 37.5% Rebs FThrow 1stH: 0-0 00.0% 2ndH: 6-14 42.9% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 42.9% 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Lithuania (6-1) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS No. N A M E FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 04 Navickas, Gediminas 0-2 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 4 05 Babrauskas, Steponas 1-6 0-4 0-0 1 1 2 4 2 3 3 0 0 20 06 Maciulis, Jonas 5-8 1-3 8-10 2 2 4 3 19 1 1 0 0 19 07 Jomantas, Arturas 5-7 0-1 2-3 2 2 4 1 12 3 4 0 1 23 08 Seibutis, Renaldas 7-14 1-5 2-4 1 2 3 1 17 5 1 0 2 25 09 Prekevisius, Marius 5-9 4-8 0-0 0 2 2 0 14 3 0 0 1 27 11 Kavaliauskas, Antana 2-4 0-0 0-0 3 2 5 4 4 0 0 3 1 14 12 Anisimov, Machailo 0-5 0-0 0-0 3 1 4 2 0 0 1 0 0 9 13 Jankunas, Paulius 6-12 0-0 3-4 4 11 15 3 15 2 1 0 3 29 14 Alijevas, Rolandas 1-1 0-0 1-1 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 6 15 Silinski, Darius 4-6 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 2 8 1 1 4 0 24 TEAM ........................................ 0 0 0 TOTALS 36-74 6-21 18-24 16 26 42 20 96 18 13 7 9 200 TOT-FG 1stH: 0-0 00.0% 2ndH: 36-74 48.6% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 48.6% Deadbl 3pt-FG 1stH: 0-0 00.0% 2ndH: 6-21 28.6% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 28.6% Rebs FThrow 1stH: 0-0 00.0% 2ndH: 18-24 75.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 75.0% 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OFFICIALS: TECHNICAL FOULS: Australia - none Lithuania - none ATTENDANCE: SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT1 OT2 TOTAL Australia 11 23 20 19 73 Lithuania 26 15 29 26 96 Medal Semifinal #1