Team USA tasted defeat for the first time this summer, after a dominating display from Lithuania on Sunday.
For Lithuania , it became another night to remember against USA Basketball. And the nation once famous for the tie-dyed T-shirts — some of them were worn by fans in the building Sunday night — sent a clear message to the Americans and anyone else still in the World Cup.
Those weren’t the only close calls or worse. Lithuania beat the U.S. at the 1998 world championships and in the early rounds of the 2004 Athens Olympics. It also gave the Americans all they wanted in the 2012 London Olympics, falling 99-94 in a preliminary round matchup where the U.S. briefly trailed in the fourth quarter.
Lithuania made its first nine 3-point attempts and built an early 21-point lead, and the U.S. became Paris-bound in the third quarter when Serbia’s win over the Dominican Republic went final in an outcome that clinched an Olympic berth for the Americans.It took the Americans less than half of the third quarter — 4 minutes and 16 seconds — to cut what was a 17-point halftime deficit down to four, and the comeback attempt was on.
Win or lose Sunday, they already were assured of a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals. Brazil, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic were trying to join the U.S. in the quarters — but all lost on Sunday to end their stay at the World Cup.
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