The qualifiers for the 2027 FIBA World Cup are currently ongoing, and Thursday’s schedule saw a thriller of a matchup between Lithuania and Great Britain. Lithuania ultimately defeated Great Britain, 89-88, pulling off a comeback that was reminiscent of Tracy McGrady spearheading a comeback for the Houston Rockets back in 2004-05 NBA season.
Tracy McGrady scored 13 points in 35 seconds to help the Rockets to an improbable comeback win against the San Antonio Spurs, and a similar feat was accomplished by Lithuania guard Ignas Sargiunas during the team’s win against Great Britain in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers.
Great Britain led 87-80 with 10 seconds remaining in the game, when Sargiunas knocked down the first of what would be three 3-pointers in the final seconds. His final 3-point shot came in the final possession with Lithuania trailing 88-86. Sargiunas launched a shot from near half court that dropped. Lithuania will face Great Britain again during group play before the top teams advance to the knock-out round.
Sargiunas, the star of the game, played briefly in the United States in college for one year at the University of Georgia in 2018-19. He appeared in 20 games at a little over five minutes per game averaging 1.8 points and shooting 40 percent from the field. He transferred to Colorado State after his freshman season, but did not appear in a game for the Rams.
He currently plays for Rytas Vilnius of the Lithuanian Basketball League. He has extensive experience playing FIBA competition for Lithuania, including winning silver medals at the 2016 FIBA U18 European Championships and the 2015 FIBA Europe U16 Championships.
