There will be no playoff joy for Vilnius but a sound performance against Hamburg bodes well for its domestic challenge.
Wolves finished its home EuroCup campaign on a high note
Wolves Vilnius failed to reach the postseason in their maiden BKT EuroCup season but the Lithuanian club can still take a lot of positives from its venture into uncharted territory. Wolves produced a clinical performance in a 94-84 home win over Veolia Towers Hamburg, improving its record to 7-10 after the season’s last home game in the EuroCup. That will have boosted the team’s confidence ahead of the home stretch in domestic competition.
Founded in 2022, Vilnius is currently third in the Lithuanian league behind powerhouse Zalgiris and city rival Vilnius Ritas, with victory over Hamburg likely to provide an impetus to keep pushing for domestic glory after the final EuroCup visit to London next week.
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Tre’Shawn Thurman, who stood out against Hamburg with 19 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists, was in no doubt after the game that Wolves will benefit down the stretch from beating the German side.
“We did a really good job with our defensive assignments, guarding those guys,” Thurman said after the game. “We had a good game plan and followed it. Very important momentum-wise for us, for the rest of the season. For the morale in the locker room, it is important get better each and every day.”
Wolves's new head coach Nedas Pacevicius emphasized that every win matters, despite a somewhat flawed second-half performance against a battling Hamburg side.
“We made some tough shots and had some good stops,” he commented. “We weren’t at our best in the second half but a win is a win and it means something to us because we didn’t win so many games in the EuroCup this season.”
Hamburg head coach Benka Barloschky was pleased with his team’s effort although the German side dropped to 2-15 ahead of its final game at home to Umana Reyer Venice.
“I think we played a very good game overall but we let it slide a little bit for 2 and a half minutes in the first half,” he pointed out. “It got away from us but I was very satisfied how we played in the second half. However, it’s very tough to overcome a 14-point deficit against a shot-making team like Vilnius, with players like Thurman and Jeffery Taylor in their ranks.”
With a 2-15 record in the EuroCup this season, Hamburg has long since been out of the playoff picture. However, there will be pride to play for against Reyer, as the German team has a 0-8 home record and will want to avoid losing all of its home games in the competition this season.