MADRID, Spain -- Marko Planinic missed two free throws with a second to play for Croatia and Lithuania advanced with a 74-72 win Friday to reach the semifinals of the European Basketball Championship.
Planinic, who led Croatia with 16 points, missed his first free throw moments after teammate Marko Popovic missed a 3-point shot with two seconds to play.
Ramunas Siskauskas' jumper with 46 seconds left put Lithuania up 74-70.
Siskauskas led Lithuania with 20 points as the three-time champion returned to the semifinals for the first time since it won the trophy in 2003. Lithuania will face Russia on Saturday.
Later Friday, defending champion Greece plays Slovenia with the winner facing world champion Spain in the other semifinal match.
In a game that featured 16 lead changes, Lithuania took the final one at 8:49 of the last period behind Siskauskas' layup.
Croatia stayed with Lithuania through the second half, with back-to-back 3-pointers from Marin Rozic and Damir Markota sending Croatia into the last period leading 55-53.
Croatia's defense forced 13 turnovers and held one of the tournament's best shooting teams to 36 percent from the floor in the first period.
Croatia held a 19-17 lead into the second, the first time in six games Lithuania went into a period trailing.
With Croatia getting most of its production from the post -- outscoring its opponents 22-14 in the first half and 34-22 for the game -- Lithuania fought back from the free throw line, hitting 14-of-17 in the first half to lead 38-35 after 20 minutes.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
Source: ESPN.com
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