Rutgers rising sophomore forward Gilvydas Biruta scored 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting and had six rebounds in 14 minutes to help the Lithuania U20 National Team to a 101-72 victory over the United States U19 National Team in an exhibition game Sunday evening.
Lithuania jumped out to a 32-8 lead to conclude the opening quarter and never looked back. Lithuania made 49.3 percent (33-67) of its field goals attempts for the game, while limiting the United States to 35.5 percent (27-76) shooting. The hosts also established a 53-42 advantage in rebounds to ensure the victory.
Biruta was one of six players to post double figure scoring totals for Lithuania. Darius Tarvydas shot 7-of-11, including 4-of-7 from behind the arc, to score a game-high 21 points.
Tim Hardaway, Jr. paced the USA offense with 18 points, 16 coming in the second half. In addition to Hardaway’s scoring, the USA saw Joe Jackson record 13 points, a USA high eight rebounds, five assists and four steals, while Doug McDermott finished with 12 points and four rebounds.
“I thought the Lithuanian team played very well, especially in the first half. They moved the ball extremely well and did a great job of screening our guys,” commented USA head coach Paul Hewitt.
Lithuania will compete in the A Division of the 2011 FIBA U20 European Championships as one of Europe’s top 16 teams. The tournament will take place July 14-24 in Bilbao, Spain. Lithuania begins play in Group D along with Ukraine, Italy and the Federal Republic of Germany.
