37-Point Win Starts Payback for 53 Years : European basketball: Lithuania rolls over CIS, 116-79, getting 33 points from Sabonis and 26 from Marciulionis.

Out here in this dusty little town by the Portuguese border, Lithuania’s Olympic basketball team struck a blow for freedom Friday night.

“When people hear this on the phone back home, they will think there is something wrong with the phone,” Lithuanian guard Sarunas Marciulionis said. “They won’t believe what we have done.”

Arvidas Sabonis scored 33 points and Marciulionis added 26 as Lithuania routed the Commonwealth of Independent States, 116-79, in the European Olympic qualifying basketball tournament, the first game between the two teams since the Soviet Union annexed the Baltic republic in 1939.

“Some guys were saying it was a shame we didn’t win by 53 points,” Marciulionis said. “One point for every year of being oppressed.”

Still, the result is expected to touch off celebrations all across Lithuania and stand as one of the great moments in the young nation’s independence.

“Believe me, it’ll be a national holiday,” Lithuanian forward Arturas Karnisovas said. “People will be dancing in the streets and throwing wild parties, because this means so much more than just a win to us.”

The CIS, the catch-all confederation that includes the last vestiges of the Soviet empire, was devastated by the loss. The Soviet Union won the 1988 Olympic gold medal in Seoul, but the breakup of the nation--Lithuania claimed four starters off that team--left the basketball program in tatters.

Atlanta Hawk forward Alexander Volkov scored 29 points Friday, but the rest of his teammates were either too young or too intimidated to help. The CIS shot 40% from the field and was outrebounded, 50-34.

Lithuania finished the first round of this 25-team tournament with a 5-0 record and is one of the top four seeded teams in the next round in Zaragoza. The CIS (3-2) also qualifies for the second round as the group runner-up.

Only four European teams will earn berths to the Olympics next month in Barcelona.

With both Lithuania and the CIS already assured of places in the next round, this game was solely about pride, but it was over almost before it began. With a crowd of 6,400 sandwiched into the steamy Polideportivo Pavilion, Lithuania overcame a sluggish start and rolled to a 16-point halftime lead.

Thereafter, Sabonis’ menacing, 7-foot-4 presence inside (17 rebounds, three blocked shots) and Marciulionis’ steady offense kept Lithuania on the go. Defensively, a formation as simple as a 1-3-1 zone--with Sabonis in the middle--confounded the CIS, a clear indication of how far the mighty have fallen.

“I was surprised how quickly they quit,” Karnisovas said. “They got lost when we went to a 1-3-1, and you could see them get dejected. Before long, they were just arguing among themselves.”

For Marciulionis, the Golden State Warriors’ sixth man, the opportunity to play against his former team and teammates was odd. But after waiting all his life to represent Lithuania, he was in no mood to be sentimental.

“This feels incredible; this feels better than I could ever have imagined,” Marciulionis said. “I always thought we would win, but I never expected to win like this. People back home in Lithuania will be very, very happy.”

In other games, Croatia got 23 points from Drazen Petrovic and defeated Greece, 102-63, to qualify for the final round from Group C. Czechoslovakia defeated Slovenia, 86-84, to advance from Group A. Israel beat Albania, 116-61, in Group B to earn a berth in the next round.