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NOVI SAD (FIBA U19 World Championship) - Lithuania bounced back from a narrow defeat in their opening FIBA U19 World Championship encounter with France to record a resounding victory over Group A rivals Lebanon.

Point guard Darius Gvezdauskas was the stand-out performer for the victors, pouring in 27 points, including seven of nine (77.7%) from three-point range, as the Baltic nation eased to a crushing 105-69 win.

Determined to get their first win on the board after their ding-dong 85-82 loss to the French on Thursday, Lithuania took no prisoners in the early exchanges, roaring out to a 12-0 lead just three and a half minutes into the opening quarter.

Lebanon had to wait until the fourth minute to get their first score of the game, Miguel Martinez sinking two efforts from the charity stripe.

But by the interval Lithuania’s overall superiority told on the scoreboard, Gvezdauskas sinking a three-pointer to increase the advantage to 57-35.

At the start of the third quarter a 13-0 blitz capped by another Gvezdauskas effort from long range effectively ended the game as a contest, Lebanon scoring just nine points in the quarter as the fight drained from Adriano Geraldis’ men.

Lithuania eased off the gas significantly in the final quarter, allowing Lebanon to rattle in 25 points, but they were never in any danger of relinquishing their dominant position.

Deividas Gailius ably supported the rampant Gvezdauskas with 14 points, while Rokas Grinius dominated the boards with 10 rebounds.

Martinez led the way with 16 points and four assists for misfiring Lebanon, who completed on just 17 of 49 (34.6%) attempts from inside the arc.

FIBA