Sergio Hernandez, head coach of Argentina, instructs during a match with Lithuania at the 2005 Stankovic Continental Champions Cup basketball tournament in Beijing, capital of China, July 29, 2005. Lithuania beat Argentina 83-77.

European champion Lithuania stunned Olympic titlist Argentina 83-77 on Friday in Beijing to win the potential title match of the Stankovic Continental Champions Cup basketball tournament.

Lithuania squandered an 19-point lead in the first half before falling behind 66-62 early in the fourth quarter. Then the Europeans rallied with a 13-2 run to go up again at 75-68.

Julio Mazzaro made a three-pointer with 54 seconds remaining to pull Argentina within 76-75, but Mindaugas Lukauskis made two from the line two seconds later to make it 78-75.

After the two sides traded free throws, Lithuania went up 80-77 with 30 second left on the clock. Then Mazzaro missed a layup, allowing Martynas Andriukaitits secure the third straight victory of Lithuania at this tournament with a three-pointer play four seconds from the end.

"Our players got tired in the second half, but they found back their energy and won a very hard game," said Lithuania head coach Valdemaras Chomicius.

Argentina head coach Sergio Hernandez admitted his side was not as concentrated as its opponent.

"We had too easy wins in the first two games," Hernandez said. " Lithuania is a very strong team. They attached great importance to this match and were more concentrated."

Unfortunatedly, the other two games today following the Lithuania-Argentina clash did not finish due to different reasons.

The match between host China and Puerto Rico was interrupted by a group fighting between the two sides only one and half minute to go in the fourth quarter when China were 91-80 in the lead.

The chaos was ignited by a foul on Chinese player Yi Jianlian.

The following match between Angola and Australia was interrupted in the third quarter when Angola were 62-49 in the lead. An Angola player was injured at that moment and both sides complained about the wetness of the floor.

Six teams including the host China are competing in the six-team tournament in a round-robin format. Lithuania, the only team unbeaten after three rounds, was in a good position to win the title.

Source: Xinhua