Zoran Planinic missed two foul shots with 1.02 seconds remaining, allowing Lithuania to hold off a motivated Croatia 74-72 and book their spot in Saturday's semi-finals against Russia.

Darius Songalia scored 20 points, grabbed seven rebounds and gave Lithuania the winning basket with 46 seconds left.

Linas Kleiza collected 19 points and nine rebounds and Sarunas Jasikevicius dished out

		Zoran Planinic led Croatia with 16 points but missed critical free throws down the stretch.

eight assists as Lithuania remained the only perfect team in the competition.

"It should have been an easier game, but it was very difficult for us psychologically. Croatia are a very good team, but every team in the quarter-finals is good," said Ramunas Siskauskas, who was held to just two points.

"We were a bit nervous at the beginning, but not in the final seconds and that's what helped us to the win."

Lithuania are hoping to repeat their 2003 run to the EuroBasket title - which they won with a perfect 6-0 run.

The Baltic powers are going for European crown number four.

Croatia limped into the quarter-finals having lost their last three games after beating Spain, but Jasmin Repesa's men gave Lithuania all they could handle, especially Planinic, who collected a team-high 16 points as well as three rebounds, five assists and seven steals.

The Tau Vitoria guard however missed when it meant most.

After Marko Popovic was off target on a three-pointer with three seconds left, Planinic was fouled with 1.02 ticks remaining. He missed the first and then purposely missed the second and Lithuania ran off the clock for the win.

Popovic finished with 12 points and Marko Tomas added 10.

Croatia, who will play France in the 5th-8th classification games, shot themselves in the foot, making just eight of 19 foul shots (42%) while holding Lithuania to 40% shooting (23-of-58) for the game.

“We were able to get a last-second shot but unfortunately, it didn’t go in," said Tomas.

“Tonight, we suffered at the free throw line."

Lithuania struggled to find their rhythm offensively early on and committed two turnovers while watching Croatia jump ahead 9-3 with Planinic scoring seven points. Back-to-back three-pointers by Popovic kept the Croatians ahead 17-11 before the Lithuanians pulled to within 19-17 after the first period.

Planinic had scored 13 points as Croatia led 33-32. Kleiza answered with a three-point play and a three-pointer for a 38-33 Lithuania lead, but the Baltic defense allowed Marko Tomas to score off an inbounds pass for a 38-35 half-time lead.

Ramunas Butautas's team again couldn't find their form early, making just one of seven shots and giving up three turnovers while Croatia went ahead 44-41with a 9-3 spurt.

A Songalia three-pointer made it 53-49 for Lithuania - only to see Marin Rozic and Damir Markota drain back-to-back treys for a 55-53 Croatia lead going into the fourth.

Lithuania opened the final quarter on an 11-3 run to charge ahead 64-58 but Croatia refused to give up but Kleiza and Simas Jasaitis knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to increase the cushion to 72-65 with three minutes remaining.

A Tomas three-pointer cut the led to 72-70 with a minute left.

Songalia drained a jumper for a four-point lead, but was then called for an unsportsmanlike foul on Planinic with 27 seconds left.

Planinic made two foul shots to set up the drama in the waning seconds.

Croatia

Guard Marko Tomas: "We are extremely disappointed. This is the third EuroBasket in a row that we have lost on our last play. We had that last shot but it didn't happen for us. We had a good game but in the end it just didn't work for us. We made 42% of our free throws and that hurt us a lot."

Coach Jasmin Repesa: "Congratulations for all players on both teams. It was a very beautiful and interesting game. My opinion is that both teams should have won, but only one team can win in basketball."

"We played our best game in this tournament with great concentration and attitude, but if you want to win a game you need to make your free throws and take the rebounds. These are the most important things in those types of games. we missed some free throws and lost rebounds in some important periods, and that's why we lost the game."

"For sure it's not easy for us to play tomorrow against France but I believe these guys want to reach our main goal – the ticket to the Olympics qualifications."

"We stayed on the court with four guards – all our good shooters, and a big guy who's the best shooter of our big guys. We created a mis-match and Popovic got a good shot for him, but he missed, and that's part of the game."

Lithuania

Coach Ramunas Butautas: "The game was very difficult for us. Croatia played very strong in defense with many fouls and with many offensive rebounds. We had some problems in offense, especially in the first half. We played very nervously. We weren't focused enough, and some players played bad tonight, but I hope that tomorrow we will be focused 100% and fight to go to the finals. Saras isn't fully healthy but he can play as you could saw. Russia have a good coach and very good shooters, so this team is very strong. We must fight to win the game."

Guard Sarunas Jasikevicius: "Every game is hard in this tournament and the quarter-final is just tough. Croatia have a really good team, a lot of good players, a great coach (Jasmin Repesa) who is very experienced. But at the same time we have to admit that we played far from our best and I just really hope that if we want to advance we are going to have to play much better."

Forward Darius Songaila: "It could have gone either way. Both teams deserved the win. Zoran Planinic missing two free throws uncharacteristically. They left it all out there, we did the same."

"I think the nerves got the best of us in the first quarter maybe for them it happened in the fourth quarter, unfortunately not the right time for it. We expected a physical game from the beginning. They did a hell of a job with Ramunas Siskauskas. It was not a surprise, there are no easy games."

"Now we must rest and get ready for tomorrow's semi-final against Russia. I rather play tomorrow than have a day off because although we will be a bit tired, right now Russia are seating down thinking about the game much more than we are thinking about it, sometimes it wears on you mentally."

Here's a game of ambitions.

Lithuania have no intentions of stopping in the quarter-finals no matter what team stands in their way, they came here to go all the way and can't afford to lose.

Croatia are satisfied with their results so far although they would obviously like to go on but, in case of a loss today, no heads will be chopped off.

		Kasun must be at his best down low for Croatia to be dangerous

And that is great news for Jasmin Repesa's side. The last time they went into a game as clear underdogs with no pressure to lose a game was in their group win against hosts Spain. Then again since that shock result, Croatia have lost three games in a row, all in the qualifying round.

Lithuania will have the best passer of the tournament, Sarunas Jasikevicius, on court. He won't be 100% fit, but there's no chance he's going to sit out.

Coach Ramunas Butautas declared his team can play very well even without him and will hope they'll do it again, as was the case in the second half against Slovenia, so that his key player can be rested as much as possible before the semi finals.

The winners of this game go through to the semi-finals to meet Russia, while the losers will face France to fight for the Olympics qualification berth.

Last Time Out: Lithuania pulled a big and impressive 80-61 defeat of Slovenia to win the first spot in their qualifying round group, while Croatia lost to Russia 70-83.

Head-to-Head: In EuroBasket 2005 the teams met in the qualifying round. Lithuania had a weaker line up than here, while Croatia was armed with Nikola Vujcic, Dalibor Bagaric, Andrea Zizic and Gordan Giricek. Still, Lithuania won 85-67.

Key Match-up: Maria Kasun v Lithuania big men. Of the top seven scorers for Croatia so far, Kasun is the only inside player. He is averaging 12.5 ppg on 60.4% shooting from the field. While Croatia relies mainly on one inside player, Lithuania have the Lavrinovic twins, Robertas Javtokas and Darius Songaila. Unless Stanko Barac can, once again, surprise and step up, Kasun's ability to get a good performance against those four will be crucial. If he can't deliver, Croatia will have to win this game with nothing but guards.

Statistics: Both teams excel and fail pretty much in the same statistical categories. They turn the ball over a lot, but get few steals or block. Both rank in the top five in points scored, field goal percentage and assists. The main difference lies in the rebounds where Lithuania is first and Croatia only…ninth.

X-Factor: With a much shorter line up, weaker frontline and big time difference in the rebounds category, Croatia will need to get a lot of help in the rebound from their guards. Zoran Planinic, Roko-Leni Ukic and Marko Tomas are all 195cm and up guards. Coach Repesa will need them to support his front line against the tall, strong and athletic Lithuanians.

Speaking Out: "Croatia is a big basketball country that raised great players in the past and will have in the future. The coach is like half of the team. They play very smart basketball so we are expecting a hard battle." - Lithuania Coach Ramunas Butautas.