Lithuania rips Nigeria for first hoop win

Lithuania, which has played for a bronze medal in the past five Olympic men's basketball tournaments, defeated Nigeria 72-53 on Tuesday for the team's first triumph at London.

Lithuania's victory left each team at 1-1 in Group A round-robin play after Nigeria opened with a 60-56 victory over Tunisia and Lithuania lost 102-79 to Argentina.

Lithuania -- which took bronze in 1992, 1996 and 2000 and settled for fourth in 2004 and 2008 -- will next meet France on Thursday while the Nigerians must face the US collection of NBA stars.

Both Nigeria and Lithuania made it to the Olympics through a last-chance qualifying tournament three weeks ago at Venezuela.

Overall Medal Count

Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 United States 46 29 29 104
2 China 38 27 23 88
3 Great Britain 29 17 19 65
4 Russia 24 26 32 82
5 South Korea 13 8 7 28
6 Germany 11 19 14 44
7 France 11 11 12 34
63 Malaysia 0 1 1 2

Olympic, Olympiad, the Olympic rings, Faster Higher Stronger, Citius Altius Fortius and related marks are owned by the International Olympics Committee, the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, or their related entities. This site is neither endorsed by nor affiliated with any of these entities.