Lithuania pulled off one of the most remarkable comeback wins in basketball history on Thursday night, and they can thank Ignas Sargiunas for that.
Lithuania beat Great Britain 89-88 in the FIBA World Cup 2027 European qualifying game between the two teams at Copper Box Arena in London, England. The game appeared to be over when Great Britain made two free throws to go up 87-80 with roughly 15 seconds remaining. Sargiunas then took over.
Sargiunas hit a three-pointer with 9.8 seconds left to cut the deficit to 87-83. Lithuania then quickly fouled, and Great Britain hit one free throw to take an 88-83 lead. Sargiunas hit another pull-up three-pointer with 3.5 seconds remaining to make the game interesting.
What happened next was even more absurd. Great Britain tried to inbound the ball with 3.5 seconds left, but it deflected off a player’s hands and went right to Sargiunas. The sharpshooter then nailed a buzzer-beater from just beyond half court to lift Lithuania to the win.
Greatest comebacks I've seen:
— FIBA Basketball World Cup 🏆 (@FIBAWC) November 27, 2025
1995 | Reggie Miller
2004 | Tracy McGrady
2025 | Ignas Sargiūnas#FIBAWC | #StepItUp pic.twitter.com/TwuVya5xBe
That was arguably the best 10 seconds of basketball you will ever see from an individual player.
Sargiunas, who plays for Lithuanian team Rytas Vilnius, finished with 27 points. Many compared his heroics to when Tracy McGrady hit four consecutive three-pointers in 35 seconds to help the Houston Rockets beat the San Antonio Spurs during the 2004-05 NBA season.
Sargiunas has cemented himself as a basketball legend with that one small stretch of play.
