As the two losers from Wednesday's quarterfinal matches, Slovenia and Lithuania played a match to determine who will keep their hopes of qualifying for the Olympics.

The first two teams from the Eurobasket will directly qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics, while teams ranked 3-6 will earn spots in the Olympic qualifying tournament between 2 and 8 July 2012.

Slovenia were better in the first quarter, opening a 14:6 lead, but the Lithuanians managed to come back by the end of the period, which ended with Slovenia leading 20:19.

Powered by the home crowd of 10,000, Lithuania went on a run in the second quarter and closed the period with a 11-point lead, forcing Slovenia to play from behind.

Slovenia turned things around in the last period with a 7:0 run, and the teams were pretty much even until the end of the quarter, when a mistake by Slovenia allowed Lithuania to score a three-pointer and secure the crucial win.

Slovenia's top scorers were guard Goran Dragic and centre Erazem Lorbek with 16 points each, while forward Matjaz Smodic was the best rebounder with 6 boards.

Slovenia's coach Bozidar Maljkovic said that he was satisfied with how his team reacted. "I'm proud that we played aggressively, hard and as a team", he said, adding that this tournament was the first step towards building a strong team for the 2013 Eurobasket in Slovenia.

Lorbek admitted that the game was very tough. "We played good basketball, but unfortunately we fell an inch short at the end. We should be satisfied with today's performance nevertheless."

Captain Jaka Lakovic was meanwhile disappointed as Slovenia failed to stay in play for an Olympic berth. "The question is whether I will ever play again for the national team. If my body allows me and if I'm useful for the team, I will perhaps think about it."