Serbia's Bogdan Bogdanovic (L) vies with Lithuania's Marius Grigonis during a friendly basketball match between Serbia and Lithuania in Belgrade, Serbia on Aug. 10, 2019. (Xinhua/Predrag Milosavljevic)
BELGRADE, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Serbia marked another victory within preparations for the basketball world cup in China, beating Lithuania 72-68 here on Saturday.
The two teams clashed at Belgrade Arena in front of some 18,000 fans in a tense and exciting game that was decided in the final seconds (14-23, 20-17, 22-19, 16-9)
The guest team impressively separated early in the match, gaining 17-5 lead, mostly thanks to three pointers of Marius Grigonis, while strong defense enabled Lithuania to take advantage into the second quarter.
Serbia rallied in the second quarter despite the injury of its main playmaker Milos Teodosic, but the guests kept a 6-point advantage at half-time.
After the break, Bogdan Bogdanovic played a major role in decreasing Lithuania's advantage, and Dragan Milosavljevic struck a three-pointer to set the score even at 47-47.
Bogdanovic scored 18 points, Nemanja Bjelica added 15 more, and Serbian NBA star Nikola Jokic marked 13 points.
This is Serbia's third win from the three friendly matches.
The two teams will play another match on Monday in Lithuania.
