Spain and France have already booked tickets to the semifinals on Wednesday. On Thursday, four more teams will look to advance to the medal round as the quarterfinals of the FIBA EuroBasket Men 2013 resumes today in Slovenia.
Croatia vs Ukraine
Croatia is arguably the hottest team in the tournament and they will look to sustain their momentum when they collide with the dangerous Ukraine in the first game of today's double-header.
Croatia opened the tournament with a blowout loss to the defending champions Spain, but they have been unscathed since then, winning their last seven games to take the top spot in Group F heading into the quarterfinals.
Ukraine, on the other hand, will look to prove that reaching the quarterfinals this year is no fluke. The Mike Fratello-coached squad ended up as the fourth seed in Group E, but they want to show that they are not content with just reaching the knockout stage of the tournament.
Ukraine, who will be making their first quarterfinal appearance in a EuroBasket in the post Soviet Union era, last faced Croatia in the EuroBasket Men 2013 qualification round, in which the latter escaped with an 80-79 win off a three-pointer from Bojan Bogdanovic.
Lithuania vs Italy
Meanwhile, Lithuania will resume their bid for a podium finish today when they take on Italy in the fourth and final quarterfinal match of this year's European championship.
Lithuania ended up as the second-best team in Group E, while Italy finished third in Group F. Both teams experienced a tough road to the quarterfinals with both of them suffering defeats that could have cost them a spot in the knockout phasevof the tournament.
Lithuania, who will be making their fifth quarterfinal appearance in the last six editions of the EuroBasket tourney, started the tournament with a defeat to Serbia, but bouncing back with big wins, including victories against France, Belgium, and Ukraine in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Italy, on the other hand, absorbed defeats to Slovenia and Croatia in the second round, but they managed to book a spot in the knockout stage by scoring a huge upset victory over Spain.
Jonas Valanciunas, who is averaging 7.9 points and 6.0 rebounds in the tournament, knows that they are favored to win in their upcoming game, but he and his team vowed not to underestimate the Italian squad.
"It's not going to be easy. Italy is a really good team. They have the best shooters in this tournament. It's going to be really hard work," said Valanciunas in a FIBA interview.
EuroBasket Men 2013 Quarterfinals Live Streaming And Box Score
The quarterfinal match between Croatia and Ukraine will start at 11:45 a.m. EST, while the Lithuania vs Italy showdown will follow shortly. Live streaming of both matches will be available on LiveBasketball T.V, while NBA TV will also show the match on national television.
Live box score and play-by-play will be available on the official FIBA EuroBasket 2013 website.
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