Lithuania suffers painful loss in Italy in World Cup qualifying

Italy's men's basketball team defeated Lithuania 87-84 in a World Cup qualifying match in Bologna on Sunday, overcoming a 13-point hole in the fourth quarter.

Nico Mannion led Italy with 27 points and five assists, while Matteo Spagnolo added 14 points and Stefano Tonut scored 10. For Lithuania, Azuolas Tubelis posted 25 points and 12 rebounds, Ignas Sargiunas scored 14, Kaspars Jakucionis 10, and Jonas Valanciunas contributed 9 points and 6 rebounds.

Italy head coach Luca Banchi missed the game for personal reasons, with Marco Ramondino taking over.

In the same group, Iceland beat Great Britain 88-86 on the road to also advance to the second qualifying round. After six games in Group D, Italy has five wins, while Lithuania and Iceland each have three, and Great Britain has one.

Portugal secured their first-ever spot in the second round by beating Greece 71-65 away. Diogo Brito led Portugal with 17 points and nine rebounds.

In Group A, Ukraine, coached by Ainars Bagatskis, crushed Denmark 99-69 on the road, while Georgia edged Spain 91-89 in overtime at home. Spain leads the group with five wins, followed by Ukraine with four, Georgia with three, and Denmark with none.

The 2027 FIBA World Cup will be held in Qatar from August 27 to September 12. Qatar has already qualified, and European teams are competing for 12 berths.