Holly MacKenzie - Raptors.com
Silver isn’t quite as good as gold, but it is enough for a ticket to Rio. Although Jonas Valanciunas and the Lithuanian national team fell 80-63 to Spain in the 2015 EuroBasket final, their trip to the gold-medal game ensured their participation in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Lithuania came into the final with a 7-1 record, but were unable to slow a stacked Spain team led by EuroBasket MVP Pau Gasol who finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds. An all-time record crowd of 27,372 fans were on hand to witness Spain’s dominance as they won their third EuroBasket in the past four tournaments and medaled for the fifth time in as many tries.