Yugoslav men's basketball national team was defeated in the quarterfinals of the Olympic tournament by Lithuania 63-76 (32-37).
Trailing by five points at halftime, Yugoslavia were missing their most potent weapon and their captain Predrag Danilovic who tore a calf muscle against Canada.
But the 1996 silver medallists and reigning world champions, who now bow out of medal contention in Sydney, were unable to contain Einikis or point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius.
"Frankly, they played much better than we did," said Yugoslav coach Zeljko Obradovic, who sidestepped a question on whether he would resign.
"We played extremely badly and the only one to take the blame is me, the coach. We came here to play for a medal and now we are playing for fifth."
The best Yugoslavia's scorer was Predrag Stojakovic with 20 points, while Dejan Tomasevic grabbed 8 rebounds.
YUGOSLAVIA - LITHUANIA 63-76 (32-37)
YUGOSLAVIA: Bodiroga 14, Danilovic, Obradovic 8,
Rakocevic 3, Stojakovic 20, Scepanovic 3, Lukovski 4, Rebraca 5, Tarlac 2, Drobnjak 2, Tomasevic 2 (eight rebounds, two steals, five turnovers), Jestratijevic.
LITHUANIA: Jasikevicius 18 (four assists), Marciulionis, Timinskas 6, Stombergas 8, Siskauskas 9, Giedraitis, Adomaitis, Zukauskas 4, Masiulis 2, Maskoliunas 3, Einikis 26 (eight rebounds,
Songaila.
2PFGs: YUGOSLAVIA - 17/39 (43,6%); LITHUANIA - 21/39 (53,8).
3PFGs: YUGOSLAVIA - 3/10 (30,0); LITHUANIA - 4/9 (44,4).
Free throws: YUGOSLAVIA - 20/30 (66,7); LITHUANIA - 22/26 (84,6).
REBOUNDS: YUGOSLAVIA - 21 (11+10); LITHUANIA - 26 (9+17).
Quarterfinals - Results
Australia - Italy 65-62
France - Canada 68-63
Lithuania - YUGOSLAVIA 76-63
United States - Russia 85-70
Semifinal
Australia - France
United States - Lithuania
