The Lithuanian side recorded the largest winning margin in club history with a 27-point victory
Lietkabelis sets the tone early, cruises past Panionios at home
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 17 of 18
Regular Season
group b
Lietkabelis PanevezysLIE
8962
Panionios Cosmorama Travel AthensPAN
group b
Overview
w
l
l
l
l
l
w
l
l
w
Lietkabelis Panevezys ended its four-game losing streak with a comfortable 89-62 home win over Panionios Cosmorama Travel Athens on Wednesday night to the delight of its fans. Both sides had entered the clash even in the standings, with the hosts improving to 4-13 while recording the club’s largest margin of victory in competition history.
Lietkabelis controlled the momentum from start to finish, with a strong defensive effort and dominance in the paint setting the tone. Fardaws Aimaq was the steady force inside, finishing the game with 19 points and 14 rebounds.
‘‘For us, every game is super important,’’ said Aimaq after the game. ‘‘We try and approach every game the same way. Obviously, this is the last couple of EuroCup games, for us it’s really important. The club, the players, the city… to do well and finish off strong. So, I think we did that.’’
The hosts relied on efficient scoring throughout the game, building a 10-point lead in the first quarter. The hosts maintained their intensity, turning Panionios’s turnovers into fast-break points to take a 19-point advantage into halftime. Lietkabelis kept that momentum in the second half, never letting the lead slip.
Lietkabelis was efficient from beyond the arc, knocking down 10 three-pointers overall, with 5 coming from Kristian Kullamae, who led the way with 19 points. The hosts finished at 37.0% shooting from deep, with Jamel Morris adding 16 points on 4 triples.
‘‘In general, we played better than the previous game, but our problems are still the same, so we must find the reason why we play so bad,’’ said Coach Nenad Canak, pointing out the games ahead. ‘‘We controlled the game from the very beginning. But the game is like already behind us and we must try to be on the same level, because now in February we are waiting for much more important games in the future.’’
Entering the night in search of its first road win of the season, Panionios leaned on a short nine-man rotation, which narrowed its offensive choices and limited its ability to respond to Lietkabelis’s aggressive defense. The Greek side committed 14 turnovers and had a tough night from deep, hitting just 4 of 28 from beyond the arc.
Joe Thomasson led the visitors with 16 points, while 19-year-old Greek center Andreas Patrikis stepped up with 9 points and 10 rebounds on a night when Nate Watson was limited by foul trouble.
‘‘We didn't play basketball,’’ said Coach Nenad Markovic after the game. ‘‘We didn't find enough energy to play a correct game. They were very motivated, they played very good, they moved the ball well, they played hard defense, and I think we were not mentally ready to play this game.’’
With both teams already out of the BKT EuroCup Playoffs race, Lietkabelis will travel next week to face London Lions, while Panionios wraps up its season with a final home game against Besiktas GAIN Istanbul.
