LATVIA found consolation in its debut Fiba Basketball World Cup, finishing fifth place with a 98-63 win over Baltic neighbor Lithuania on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Latvia vs Lithuania recap Fiba Basketball World Cup 2023 battle for 5th
Arturs Zagars capped off his impressive tournament with a World Cup-record 17 assists for Latvia, which made noise in the tournament by beating 2019 champion Spain and European powerhouse France in their group stage campaign in Jakarta.
Arturs Kurucs had 20 points while Rolands Smits had 17 points as Latvia led by as many as 38 points in the ballgame.
The 35-point blowout was the biggest defeat by Lithuania in their World Cup history as they have never lost by 30 points or more ever.
Zagars broke the record of 15 set by Toni Kukoc of Croatia in 1994 and Carlik Jones of South Sudan this year. Fiba started collecting assists numbers 30 years ago.
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