LILLE, France: Jonas Valanciunas scored 26 points and had 15 rebounds to help Lithuania overcome Italy 95-85 in overtime on Wednesday for a place in the semifinals of the European basketball championship.
Lithuania, a three-time champion and silver medalist two years ago, will next play Serbia, which beat the Czech Republic 89-75.
Zoran Erceg scored 20 points and Milos Teodosic had 14 assists for Serbia, which is undefeated in seven straight games.
Jonas Maciulis had another double-double for Lithuania with 19 points and 10 rebounds. He went 3-for-4 from the 3-point range as Lithuania made 11 of 18 attempts from beyond the arc.
Danilo Gallinari, who finished with 17 points, forced overtime with a drive inside, but Lithuania dominated in the extra five minutes despite three turnovers as Italy began to tire.
Matas Kalnietis sank a 3-pointer for a six-point Lithuania lead with 1:49 left and Valanciunas followed with four straight points as Lithuania pulled away for a 90-83 lead to secure the victory.
Lithuania also beat Italy in the quarterfinals two years ago. Andrea Bargnani led Italy with 21 points.
Defending champion France plays Spain in the first semifinal on Thursday and Serbia and Lithuania meet on Friday.
Serbia’s bench contributed 50 points and Erceg was nearly perfect from the field as the Serbs overcame 23 points and 10 rebounds from Jan Vesely, the Czech center who played club basketball in Serbia, which won the silver medal at last year’s World Cup.
Guard Tomas Satoransky kept the Czechs in the game by scoring 14 of his 20 points in the third quarter, when Serbia led by 10 but went into the final period with only a four-point lead.
Teodosic, who finished with 12 points, made a three-point play to make it 75-64 with seven minutes remaining and Serbia sailed from then on.
“He is an incredible player. I really enjoy watching him in practice because I see things I’ve never seen in my life,” said Serbia’s coach Sasa Djordjevic, once one of the most popular and best players in Serbia. “His vision is incredible. He is special, unique.”
Serbia is playing its first semifinal since 2009, when it took the silver medal.
“It wasn’t a brilliant victory but we won and that’s the main thing,” Raduljica said. “Erceg had a fantastic game and kept us in it with his points.”
Center Miroslav Raduljica added 16 points for Serbia and Nemanja Blejica had another Serbian double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Erceg’s only miss from the field was one of his four 3-point attempts.
“We knew that it was going to be a tough game and the Czechs confirmed that they are a good, hard team,” said Erceg, a power forward whose career has been plagued by injuries. “I hit some important shots today but it’s a matter of team play. One of us always steps up and today I was the one. This is just another step on our path.”
The Serbs kept Satoransky to two points in the first half, but the Czech guard exploded after the break.
He and Vesely were giving Serbia a hard time, but they got little support. Guard Blake Schilb, who also played club basketball in Belgrade, had 11 points, but all came in the first quarter. The Czech bench produced only 14 points.
Serbia, Lithuania to contest Eurobasket semifinals
Serbia, Lithuania to contest Eurobasket semifinals
Archer dismisses Australian tailenders for a 5-wicket haul to keep England in the Ashes contest
ADELAIDE, Australia: Jofra Archer dismissed Mitchell Starc for a well-made 54 and No. 11 Nathan Lyon to restrict Australia to 371 on Thursday and complete a five-wicket haul to keep England in the Ashes contest.
Archer picked up the first wicket of the third test, two more in the first over after lunch later Wednesday and the last two on Day 2 after Australia resumed at 322 for eight.
Starc made it back-to-back half centuries to continue his run of form that has earned him player-of-the-match honors in Australia’s opening eight-wicket wins in Perth and Brisbane.
He was unbeaten on 33 overnight and quickly raced to his half-century, plundering four boundaries in the first 10 deliveries of the morning: two slashing cuts in the first over from Archer and two more to wayward deliveries from Brydon Carse.
Starc reached 50 with a single, hit the first ball of Archer’s next over to the boundary but then the England paceman bowled him with a delivery that angled in from around the stumps.
The last-wicket pair added 23 runs before Archer trapped Lyon lbw, leaving Scott Boland unbeaten on 14 from 21 deliveries.
Archer returned 5-53 from 20.2 overs for his fourth five-wicket haul in test cricket, and third in the Ashes.
Victory a must by England
England needs a victory in Adelaide to have any chance of reclaiming the Ashes in this five-test series. A good batting performance in hot conditions on Thursday will help the cause, particularly with the Australians in the field and the temperature forecast to get close to 40C on Day 2.
On Wednesday, Alex Carey posted a hometown hundred and Usman Khawaja scored 82 after he was recalled at the last minute to replace Steve Smith on the eve of his 39th birthday.
Carey’s 106 was slightly contentious after he survived a review for caught behind when he was on 72. England reviewed the initial not out decision but Carey survived as decision review technology showed a noise spike before the ball had reached his bat.
The technology’s operators, BBG, later conceded after play ended that an operator error was most likely.
“Given that Alex Carey admitted he had hit the ball in question, the only conclusion that can be drawn from this, is that the Snicko operator at the time must have selected the incorrect stump mic for audio processing,” BBG founder Warren Brennan said in a statement.
Before play on Day 2, the ICC match referee restored one review to England because of the error.
