Lietkabelis had lost three straight games entering the night
Fourth quarter run, effort guide Lietkabelis to much-needed win
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 12 of 18
Regular Season
group b
ratiopharm ulmULM
7989
Lietkabelis PanevezysLIE
group b
Overview
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Lietkabelis Panevezys used a big start to the fourth quarter and a strong effort to keep alive its slim chances for the playoffs by beating ratiopharm ulm to snap a three-game losing streak in Group B.
Lietkabelis opened the final frame with the first 17 points over more than 5 minutes to collect a 79-89 road win and improve to 3-9 including a 2-4 mark away from home.
Michael Flowers poured in 26 points to lead Lietkabelis while recent addition Justas Furmanavicius chipped in 14 points and Paulius Danesevicius scored 13 points.
“We brought the effort and intensity, especially on defense. We wanted to make it a point that we wanted to be aggressive and make a change. I am happy with what we did today,” said Flowers, who knocked down four three-pointers in the game.
Lietkabelis was first to open up some daylight with a 4-15 run to make it 39-48 late in the first half. The guests were up by eight points midway through the third quarter when Ulm went on a 16-3 surge to lead 65-60.
Lietkabelis turned the game around with a 0-17 run to start the fourth quarter for a 65-79 lead with Ulm committing five turnovers in the run. There was still 5 minutes to go but Ulm could not finish defensive possessions to get back into the game as Lietkabelis snatched five offensive rebounds over the final 4 minutes.
“It was a very important win for us - not just about the standings but also because of the situation we are in right now. I think we controlled the game. Despite a very good shooting night from Ulm (46.7 percent on three-pointers) we controlled the rebounds. That was our goal before the game and I think we deserved the win,” said Lietkabelis head coach Nenad Canak.
The guests took the battle of the glass 38-26 including 13-7 on offensive rebounds. Lietkabelis also did a great job taking advantage of Ulm’s miscues with a 26-16 difference in points off turnovers even though the guests had 19 turnovers to 17 for Ulm.
Lietkabelis came into the game ranked 18th in turnovers forced with just 13.2 and the Lithuanian side had struggled stopping teams inside the three-point line - ranking 17th on opponents’ two-pointers at 58.3 percent. But Canak’s troops held Ulm to just 42.9 percent on two-pointers.
Ulm for its part lost for the fifth time in the last six games for a 5-7 record, moving further from the playoffs spots with a 2-5 home mark. Mark Smith scored 18 points and Christopher Ledlum added 15 points in the loss.
“We played really well on defense in the second and third quarters. It felt like we had momentum going into the fourth but it seemed like they just wanted it more in the fourth quarter,” said Ulm head coach Ty Harrelson. “Our execution wasn’t where it needed to be on offense.”
