No 2 on 2 for 3×3 Belgian Lions at World Cup: vice world champion Lithuania is too big | 3×3 Basketball World Cup

The Belgians had fueled confidence this morning with a win against Israel, but Lithuania is a different story. Despite some absent top players, the Lithuanians have come to Vienna with a strong team. They defend their status as vice world champions in the Austrian capital.

The start of Lithuania was therefore strong, with smooth scores and a solid defense. The Belgian Lions tried to fight defensively in the game, but the refs didn’t give them room to do so.

Due to some light calls against them, the Belgians were in error early in the match. Lithuania took advantage from the free-throw line and actually had the upper hand all the time.

Still, the combative Lions made it exciting in the end. After a two-pointer from Donkor and a dunk from Augustijnen, it was suddenly 19-18.

After another questionable decision by the Serbian ref, Vaitkus was merciful from the free throw line, but Lithuania still took the lead thanks to a two-pointer from Tarvydas: 22-18.

So one out of two for the Belgians after the 1st day and that doesn’t have to be a drama. The group winners of the 4 groups can go directly to the quarter finals, for the numbers 2 and 3 there is a ticket for the 1/8th finals.

The World Cup of the Belgian Lions continues on Thursday. Then they close their group stage with matches against Poland and Puerto Rico.

“I think we can be quite positive in general, although it can always be better”, Bryan De Valck takes stock after the first two group matches of the Belgians.

“We started weak 2 times. It takes some adjusting with Thibaut Vervoort back in. We still have to work on the automatics. You can also see that we are growing in the competitions.”

“It was very tough against Israel, but we played that wisely. We fought well against Lithuania. On Thursday it will be important to be present from the start.”

Then Belgium will compete against Poland and Puerto Rico. “Two different teams”, says De Valck. “Puerto Rico is playing very hard on energy, with new guys running really well the last few weeks.”

“Poland, on the other hand, is a mix of youthful talent and experience. Maybe they are a bit slower than Puerto Rico. But we just have to play our own game and then we have to be able to get 2 wins. We are now going to enjoy the sun and rest a bit , so that we will be fit again on Thursday.”