Lithuania and the United States of America survived their respective quarterfinals showdown to book a spot in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup semifinals. The two teams will face each other on Thursday at Palau Sant Jordi – and then move to Madrid to play a final, decisive showdown – the loser to the bronze medal game on Saturday and winner to the championship game on Sunday – at Barclaycard Arena, home of the 2015 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four.

Lithuania beat Turkey 73-61 to reach the World Cup semifinals for the second consecutive time. Former All-Eurocup forward Renaldas Seibutis led the winners with 19 points. Jonas Maciulis of Real Madrid shined early in the fourth quarter to give Lithuania a safe lead until the final buzzer.

USA routed Slovenia 76-119 despite leading 42-49 at halftime. Klay Thompson paced Team USA with 20 points. Two more quarterfinals will be played in the Spanish capital Wednesday: Serbia vs. Brazil at 18:00 CET and Spain vs. France at 22:00 CET.

Lithuania became the first time to seal its ticket to the World Cup semifinals by downing Turkey 73-61 at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona. Lithuania reached the World Cup semifinals for the second time ever; it won a bronze medal in 2010. Turkey, which went all the way to the title game four years ago, was eliminated from the competition.

Seibutis paced the winners with 19 points. Marty Pocius of Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul added 13, former Eurocup Rising Star award winner Jonas Valanciunas tallied 12 points and 13 rebounds while Darjus Lavrinovic of Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia netted 11 points for Lithuania. Kerem Gonlum of Galatasaray led Turkey with 13 points, while Ender Arslan also of Galatasaray scored 12, Omer Asik 11 and Emir Preldzic of Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul 10.

Source: Euroleague.net