The hosts erased a 14-point third quarter deficit to rally for the victory.
Buducnost wins opener at home against Lietkabelis, 76-65

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica enjoyed a hard-fought 76-65 victory over 7bet-Lietkabelis at Moaraca on Wednesday night. The hosts trailed 35-49 early in the third period, but punished their opponent with a 18-1 run in less than 7 minutes to get back into the game. An offensive exhibition by Jacorey Williams down the stretch made the difference for Buducnost.
Williams and McKinley Wright scored 13 points each to led Budcnost, Vladimir Mihailovic added 12 and Yoan Makoundou 10. Gabrielius Maldunas paced the visitors with 16 points and 8 rebounds and Gediminas Orelik posted 14 and 6.
Lietkabelis has the upper hand in the first half
Both teams had a slow start offensively, especially from long range. A three by Brandon Paul and an inside basket by Makoundou capped a 7-0 run that pushed the home team ahead, 9-3, midway through the first quarter. Wright raised Buducnost lead to 15-8 with 6 points in a row, but the visitors reacted in style with Maldunas leading the way to make it all square, 15-15, and keep a tie at 17 after 10 minutes.
Martynas Varnas opened fire from deep to get Lietkabelis going early in the second period, as Deividas Sirvydis and Nikola Popovic took over later to help the visitors build a 24-27 lead. Maldunas and Orelik then showed up inside to increase the margin to 24-32. Lietkabelis kept exploiting Buducnost's problems to secure the defensive board, with Maldunas coming up big to close the first half with a 31-38 visitors’ lead.
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Williams helps the hosts finish in style
Orelik and Paulius Valinskas chained together a couple of threes right after the intermission to extend it to 35-44. Things got even worse for Buducnost soon after, as Popovic provided a slam and Valinskas hit again from downtown to force the home team stop the game when it trailed 35-49. A 10-0 spark led by Andrija Slavkovic and Mihailovic helped the hosts make it a single-digit deficit, 45-49, as Lietkabelis struggled against a tougher Buducnost perimeter defense. Vytenis Lipkevicius showed up from the line to end a 4-minute scoring drought, but it didn’t prevent Buducnost from completing the comeback when Popovic, Paul and Slavkovic provided free throws to make it 53-50 entering the final quarter.
Orelik and Lipkevicius combined for a 0-5 run that brought Lietkabelis back in charge, 53-55, but the hosts were still hot. Williams started fire with a basket, Paul added a 3-point play and Makoundou nailed a long jumper to make it 60-55. Williams and Makoundou kept rocking inside to raise the difference to 66-59 with 4 minutes remaining. Even though the visitors managed to build some scoring momentum, Buducnost was confident enough to find the right player at the right moment, which was Williams, who remained unstoppable in the paint. Another bucket by him boosted the Buducnost lead to 72-61 entering crunch time, and when he drew an unsportsmanlike foul soon after, everyone at Moraca knew that the win would remain at home.