The visitors dominated the fourth quarter to come away with the win.
Wolves beat Reyer 57-75, both teams eliminated from playoff contention
Wolves Vilnius continued their good recent form by knocking off Umana Reyer Venice with a 57-75 road victory, but the win was not enough to stay alive in the race for the BKT EuroCup Playoffs. Wolves started the fourth quarter with a 1-18 run to give themselves a second win in the last three games for a 6-10 record. Wolves did not win by the 30 points it needed and Prometey Slobozhanske also beat Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv, meaning the Lithuanian side was eliminated. Due to the loss to Wolves and Prometey’s win, Reyer has also been eliminated with a 6-10 record.
Tre’Shawn Thurman led the way with 14 points, Christian Mekowulu had 12 points and Garrison Brooks added 11 points. Reyer, which scored just 7 points in the fourth quarter, could not use a 19-point night from Max Heidegger, while Amedeo Tessitori chipped in 13 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals.
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Reyer had a three-point make from Heidegger to go ahead 8-3. Tessitori scored in the paint and the home side was up 12-6. Wolves held Reyer to just 1 free throw for nearly 4 minutes to make it 13-11. And the game was even 15-15 after 10 minutes.
Neither team scored in the first 2 minutes of the second quarter, but Kristupas Zemaitis gave Wolves the lead, 15-17. Triples from Davide Casarin and Aamir Simms put the hosts back ahead, 23-19. Jeffery Taylor and Mekowulu answered at the other end to combine for 9 points as Wolves went ahead, 25-28. The guests led 31-32 at the intermission.
Wolves held Reyer scoreless for the first 3 minutes of the second half and Mekowulu hit a three-pointer for a 31-37 lead. Reyer finally started scoring and went on a 12-2 surge thanks to 2 Heidegger triples and 4 points from Tessitori for a 43-39 cushion. Wolves would not let Reyer pull away and the hosts were up 50-47 going into the final 10 minutes.
Wolves tallied the first 8 points of the final frame, with Vitalijus Kozys scoring 6 points, for a 50-55 cushion. Reyer needed more than 2 minutes to score, which came thanks to a Tessitori free throw. But Thurman and Eigirdas Zukauskas both nailed three-pointers and Wolves’ advantage grew to 51-61 with 6 minutes to go. Casarin was ejected with 5 minutes left in the game for a foul on Thurman, who made 2 free throws and Zukauskas’s 2 foul shots made it a 1-18 surge and a 51-65 lead. Reyer did not get closer than 11 points the rest of the way.