The guard came alive late to score 16 of his team's 24 points in the last 10 minutes
Lietkabelis's Jamel Morris heats up in fourth quarter to down Panionios
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 8 of 18
Regular Season
group b
Panionios Cosmorama Travel AthensPAN
7279
Lietkabelis PanevezysLIE
group b
Overview
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Despite getting off to a strong start in their domestic league with six wins in nine games – including a victory away at EuroLeague side Zalgiris Kaunas – Lietkabelis Panevezys hadn’t managed to carry that form into the BKT EuroCup.
Having lost six consecutive duels in Europe, Coach Nenad Canak’s team headed to Athens facing a must-win clash against a struggling Panionios Cosmorama Travel Athens that had suffered 13 consecutive defeats across all competitions.
In a tense battle that went down to the wire, Lietkabelis finally snapped its skid with a 72-79 road win.
A low-scoring first quarter saw Lietkabelis take a 12-16 lead into the second, with the visitors maintaining a narrow 31-35 cushion at halftime. Panionios outscored the Lithuanian side 21-20 in the third quarter, slightly cutting the difference to 52-55 heading into the fourth.
Lietkabelis needed somebody to come through in the clutch, but few would have expected that this performance would be produced by a player who had gone 0-for-10 on field goals in the first 32 minutes of the game.
After struggling to find his touch from either inside or outside the arc, Jamel Morris opened his account with a three-point play to make it 52-60 with 7:20 left on the clock. Panionios fought back and trimmed the deficit to 59-62, but Morris nailed a triple and a turnaround jumper for a 61-69 lead.
The last comeback attempt by the hosts saw them cut the difference to 68-73 with 1:39 remaining, but Morris would have none of it. The Lietkabelis guard drained a step-back triple from the EuroCup logo to deal Panionios a major blow, practically killing the game off. The 33-year-old netted all his points in the last 7 minutes of the game, having scored 16 of his team’s 24 in the fourth quarter.
He was assisted by a solid Augustine Rubit, who pulled off a complete performance for yet another game. Lietkabelis’s top scorer so far this term bagged 12 points, having gone 3-for-6 on two-pointers and 6-for-7 from the charity stripe. He also downed 8 rebounds, but more importantly, Rubit recorded a career-high 4 steals, contributing most on the defensive end.
“It’s always important just to stick together,” Rubit said after the game. “It’s been a tough stretch for both teams. I think we played great defense today. We’ve been getting better and we showed it tonight.”
In fact, Lietkabelis allowed a season-low 72 points after conceding at least 93 in four of its last five games. The visitors put an end to a six-game losing streak by recording their first road victory of the season – a major and much-needed injection of confidence in their bid to climb up the rankings and reach the playoff spots.
To do so, the Lithuanian side will need to capitalize on their momentum by recording a second straight victory for the first time this season. The upcoming international break gives Lietkabelis the opportunity to work on rediscovering its form, with the team's next duel against the London Lions scheduled to take place on December 4 on home soil.
As Morris proved on Wednesday evening, it’s never too late to get back on your feet and Coach Canak’s team definitely has what it takes to turn the page and push for a playoff spot in the remainder of the campaign.
