With a loss ending any aspirations of a medal in the Olympic men’s basketball tournament, the stakes were certainly higher than they’ve ever been for Matthew Dellavedova and the Australian team when they took on Lithuania in the quarterfinals of the tournament Wednesday.
But regardless of the stakes, the Boomers rose to the occasion, sending Lithuania home after a 90-64 blowout win that will put Australia into the semifinals of the tournament for the first time since 2000.
Australia never trailed during the game, outscoring Lithuania 48-30 in the first half, before stretching its lead to as many as 32 points late in the fourth quarter. The Boomers were helped by some hot shooting, as they outshot Lithuania 61 percent to 56 percent overall and 40 percent to 27 percent from 3-point range.
Delly once again put up a strong, efficient performance for the Boomers, finishing with 15 points and three assists while committing only one turnover in 19 minutes of play. He was 5-for-12 overall from the field and 4-for-7 from 3-point range while finishing with a plus/minus of 10 and an efficiency rating of 15.
Patty Mills led Australia with a game-high 24 points while Andrew Bogut added six points and seven rebounds.
Australia will take on the winner of Croatia-Serbia in the semifinals Friday, with the winner of that matchup advancing to the gold medal game Sunday.
