In the Lithuanian Basketball League (“Betsafe-LKL”), there was a principled confrontation, which the visitors 89:77 (17:18, 26:22, 20:16, 26:21) Vilnius “Rytas” won (18-4). The students of Giedrias Žibėnas defeated “7bet-Lietkabelis” of Panevėžys coached by Nenad Čanak (13-9).
Panevėžys once again have the same balance of wins and losses with Utena’s “Uniclub Casino – Juventus” team (13-9), with whom they are competing for the fourth position. “Rytas” increased the gap with Vilnius “Wolves” (15-8).
The Panevėžys team set a good tone for the match and led 12:4 after Nikolas Popović’s shot. This forced G. Žibėnas to ask for a break, after which the difference did not decrease – it became double digits thanks to the same N. Popovičius – 14:4. True, by the end of the quarter, “Rytas” eliminated almost the entire deficit – 17:18.
Martynas Echodas opened the second quarter with a layup, so that the Vilnius team took the lead (19:18), and in the end the difference grew in favor of the guests – 28:24. N. Popovičius responded to “Ryto’s” shots, but it was not enough for Panevėžys – 34:40. After the first part of the match, Vilnius had a fragile advantage – 43:40.
N. Popovičius scored 16 points out of 40 scored by “7bet-Lietkabelis” in the first half of the match. M.Echodas led the ranks of “Ryto” with 12 points.
The close fight continued. Arnas Velička and D.Sirvydis exchanged three-pointers, Gytis Masiulis also joined the series, equalizing the result – 53:53. The Vilnius team tried to break away (61:55), however, Oskaras Pleikys earned a technical foul at the end of the quarter. Before the decisive half, “Rytas” led 63:56.
The attack of the Panevėžys team began to fall apart, and the guests punished them severely for this. “Rytas” after realizing good chances “from the game” and free throws, began to pull away dangerously (75:60), and the one-minute break did not save Nenad Canak’s army. When it seemed that the situation was critical, G.Oreliks nailed an important three-pointer with a foul (69:78), D.Sirvydis also showed leadership, so the intrigue was alive with less than 2 minutes left – 77:84. M. Foster responded with two points and thus laid the foundation for Ryto’s victory – 86:77.
Džorže Gagićius and Dovis Bičkauskis did not help “7bet-Lietkabelis”, and “Rytas” did not have Margiris Normantas.
In the first confrontation between “Betsafe-LKL” 94:74, the people of Vilnius achieved a solid victory. It is true that in the Citadele KMT semi-final 94:86, it was Panevėžys who won.
“Morning”: Martynas Echodas 19 (8/9 doubles, 3/6 penalties, 7 rebounds, 30 nb), Gytis Masiulis 14, Javins DeLaurier and Marcus Foster (7 assists) 10 each, Arnas Velička 9, Justinas Gorham 7 (1/7 treys), Gytis Radzevičius (9 rebounds, 5 assists) and Lukas Uleckas 6 each.
“7bet-Lietkabelis”: Deividas Sirvydis 23 (5/7 doubles, 3/6 triples, 4/5 penalties), Nikola Popovich 18, Vytenis Lipkevičius 11, Gediminas Orelikas 9, Paulius Valinskas 7 (1/9 years), Džiugas Slavinskas 4.
