Lithuania went off to a good start but put up an even better finish to keep Luka Doncic and Slovenia winless in Manila, 100-84, in their classification match for the fifth to eighth spots in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena on Thursday, Sept. 7.

The Lithuanians built a double-digit spread behind a 12-3 closeout in the opening frame before shrugging off the repeated efforts from the Slovenians who managed to cut the lead down to just two in the third frame.

Lithuania, however, regained footing and blew the game away in the second the final frame with Jonas Valanciunas providing the muscle inside the paint and the gunners connecting from the distance.

Valanciunas threw his weight around with a double-double of 24 points and 12 rebounds. He also provided the perfect compliment to Lithuania’s inside-outside threat after the team nailed 14-of-26 triples for a hot 56-percent clip.

Ignas Barasdeikis finished with 15 points built on three triples while Mindaugas Kuzminkas drilled four treys to finish with 14. Vaidas Kariniauskas orchestrated the attack for Lithuania with 10 assists.

Lithuania’s good shooting also spoiled the 29-point outing from Doncic although he needed 21 shots to reach the output. Doncic actually found his rhythm early on, scoring 19 in the first half but cooled down in the last two quarters.

He was backstopped by Aleksej Nikolic who added 14 and Mike Tobey with 13 as Slovenia’s first win remained elusive so far in the knockout stage.

Lithuania faces Latvia for the battle for fifth while Slovenia takes on Italy for the seventh place.