United States head coach Jerry Wainwright praised his side's second-half display following their 90-81 triumph over Lithuania in the eighth-finals of the FIBA U19 World Championship on Monday.

Lithuania led 19-18 at the end of the first quarter, and were still in the game at the midway point with the Americans only six points ahead at 45-39.

But Wainwright's team asserted themselves in the third quarter to clinch it 30-18 to put the game beyond doubt before taking their foot off the gas in the final period.

"We came out really flat and they did some things that really bothered us, but we made some adjustments at the half," said Wainwright, who is also head coach at DePaul University.

"We directed our attack right inside at David Lighty and Deon Thompson, they were terrific. But I thought from the second quarter on, Jonny Flynn and Tajuan Porter did an excellent job of containing their point guard.

"He shredded us in the first quarter. It's one of those things with different guys on different nights. Hopefully the guys who didn't play well will bounce back."

David Lighty led the way for the winners with 19 points, and was ably supported by Deon Thompson (17 points) and Patrick Beverley (14).

"I guess I came out ready to play," said Lighty, who shot six-of-six from the field, two-of-two from three-point range and one-of-one from the line.

"I felt good in warm-ups. I started early on the inside, trying to get to the basket as much as possible. That loosened up the defense a little bit and I got some wide-open shots in the third and fourth quarter."

Article courtesy www.fiba.com